Killer Story | 6. Perfect for Television

The trial against Tom Preston reveals there’s more than we thought — to our villain, the heroine and the crime. Binge all episodes of Killer Story ad-free today by subscribing to The Binge. Visit The Binge Cases on Apple Podcasts and hit ‘subscribe’ or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access. From serial killer nurses to psychic scammers – The Binge is your home for true crime stories that pull you in and never let go. Join our free newsletter at Patreon.com/TheBinge. The Binge – feed your true crime obsession. Killer Story is brought to you by Sony Music Entertainment and Orbit Media. Find out more about The Binge and other podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts and follow us @sonypodcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

• 0:02Speaker 00

  Fall never arrives all at once. First the air, then the light. And slowly, the things you love begin to find each other. A jacket meets a dress. A hoodie slips beneath a blazer. An old cap finds a new scarf. Because you don't simply step into the season. You create it, layer by layer, until it finally feels like fall. Find fall your way at Ross.

• 0:30Speaker 01

  Listen to all episodes of Killer Story ad-free right now by subscribing to The Binge. Visit The Binge channel on Apple Podcasts and hit subscribe at the top of the page, or visit getthebinge.com to get access wherever you listen. The Binge: Feed your true crime obsession.

• 1:01Speaker 01

  Previously on Killer Story.

• 1:05Speaker 02

  A dusty missing person file was quickly turned into a murder investigation with one suspect, Tom Preston.

• 1:14Speaker 03

  I can't help but think, man, that he's got something to do with both of these. I was scared to death.

• 1:19Speaker 04

  There was no witness to the murder.

• 1:21Speaker 02

  I got a phone call. She just said, "I know that man hurt Sabrina."

• 1:37Speaker 01

  It's one thing to arrest a person for murder. Another thing entirely to prove that person is a murderer beyond a reasonable doubt. And that's where we are now. We're in court, the state of Nevada versus Thomas Lankor Preston Jr. Why are we here? Because Thomas Lankor Preston Jr. insists he's not guilty. He is not the person he's been taken for.

• 2:05Speaker 05

  I've never lied in my life.

• 2:07Speaker 01

  The case had been entirely circumstantial. But then a call came in from a woman who claimed she was there the night Sabrina was pushed into the Colorado River.

• 2:19Speaker 06

  Yeah, just her arms and legs were tied together behind her back.

• 2:30Speaker 01

  This is our final episode and we're going to get to the bottom of some things. Like how Sabrina ended up floating in a clear, cold river. And also, did Lindell get the revenge she was seeking?

• 2:46Speaker 01

  This is Killer Story. I'm Steve Fishman. Episode six, Perfect for Television.

• 3:06Speaker 00

  Fall never arrives all at once. First the air, then the light. And slowly, the things you love begin to find each other. A jacket meets a dress, a hoodie slips beneath a blazer, an old cap finds a new scarf. Because you don't simply step into the season. You create it, layer by layer, until it finally feels like fall. Find fall your way at Ross.

• 3:35Speaker 01

  A note before we start. Actors reenact some court proceedings. All right, let's have a trial.

• 3:49Speaker 01

  Nevada versus Preston starts on Valentine's Day, 1994. Yeah, the wheels of justice turn slowly. It's seven years since Sabrina disappeared. Three years since Lindell got on the case. Today is supposed to be a day devoted to love. But no one in the courtroom is feeling much love. The prosecutor wants the jury to think about a grisly scene, about how a defenseless Sabrina met a violent end.

• 4:20Speaker 07

  This is a case where a young woman was choked around the neck until she became life-

• 4:29Speaker 01

  Choked until she became lifeless. Preston's team, The Defense, isn't feeling much love either. Their view is that the case has been concocted for the benefit of TV viewers.

• 4:43Speaker 07

  I'm very, very disappointed with Metro Police Department. Allowing this program for affairs to be the tail to wag the dog of Metro.

• 4:56Speaker 01

  The tail wagging the dog of Metro, as in Metro Police. The attorney goes on, "If not for a current affair, this poor, older man would be free to support his family."

• 5:13Speaker 01

  Okay, let's start with this poor, older man, 53-year-old Tom Preston, the defendant. Now, you know defendants don't usually testify. It opens them up to too many questions on cross-examination. But a self-confident Preston is bucking the conventional wisdom. He lumbers to the stand. He's been in jail awaiting trial for almost two years and has lost 50 pounds. He's 300 pounds now, still in terrible health. On the stand, Preston looks comfortable. He sports a graying, shaggy goatee and wears business attire, a dark blue suit. He has a deep, gentle voice.

• 5:58Speaker 01

  He's clearly someone who believes in his powers of persuasion. As far as I can tell, the defense's strategy is to paint Preston as an endearing character, likable, helpful, grandfatherly. Tom Preston, he just isn't the type to do something dastardly. Lyndle is sitting in the spectator section, and she's worried.

• 6:22Speaker 02

  He had good defense, and he had the gift of the gab. And he gave his own testimony. And if you were a jury member that believed him, only one of them had reasonable doubt, this guy would not have gone to jail.

• 6:36Speaker 01

  She means that if even one juror believes Preston's story, there won't be a guilty verdict.

• 6:45Speaker 01

  This is how Preston presents himself in court. First, as a selfless member of the community. I'm quoting from Preston's statements here. "I was the humanitarian of the year in Las Vegas. I saved, single-handedly, a bus from being hijacked. I was mascot for the cheerleaders. Everybody loved me." Then, he presents himself as highly trained. "He was a surgical nurse, worked in law enforcement for the district attorney. He brought along a badge to show the jury. He worked for the US Department of the Treasury as well." And, he's a respected businessman.

• 7:26Speaker 01

  When Sabrina lived with him, he was managing sales across five states and overseeing security for an international company. All this from the comfort of a couch in his own home.

• 7:39Speaker 01

  So this is Preston's version of who he is. Preston also talked about his devotion to his troubled son, Tommy. He'd raised Tommy since kindergarten, mostly on his own. But Tommy became a monster on drugs and Preston's second wife said, "It's Tommy or me." To which Preston said, "I couldn't bring myself to throw my son out." Preston's wife left.

• 8:04Speaker 05

  And Tommy was all I had.

• 8:06Speaker 01

  Is it really possible that this devoted father is a heartless killer? Lyndall stared at Preston.

• 8:14Speaker 02

  I looked at him, and I absolutely hated him.

• 8:19Speaker 02

  I looked at him and he made me feel ill.

• 8:22Speaker 01

  Preston tells the jury that the only reason he's in the courtroom, the only reason this whole thing is happening, is because of a current affair. This sleazoid electric tabloid, as he refers to it, was hunting for ratings.

• 8:38Speaker 02

  What he was saying was that it was all about me wanting to, you know, advance my career or some bullshit like that. And he used to piss me off because he used to get my name wrong and he called me that Lyndall Marx.

• 8:55Speaker 01

  Next, the prosecutor gets a turn with the accused. He opens with a trap.

• 9:02Speaker 07

  Mr. Preston, if you had been killed, Sabrina Kidd, would you tell us in this courtroom this?

• 9:09Speaker 05

  Yes, sir.

• 9:12Speaker 05

  Why wouldn't I, sir?

• 9:17Speaker 05

  I've never lied in my life.

• 9:19Speaker 01

  Never? Seems to me Preston fell into the prosecutor's trap. Not to get too far ahead, but the facts may be unfriendly to Preston's view. The prosecution contends that Sabrina was strangled to death in Preston's house in the hour between 8:30 and 9:30 on the morning of September 18th. So between the time her friend Jennifer says she dropped her off at Preston's and the time her friend Crystal says she stopped by to pick her up for work. Where were you at that time, Mr. Preston? His response? Something we haven't heard before. Preston claims he was not at home that morning. He was at a clinic for his heart.

• 10:02Speaker 01

  His bad ticker, as he calls it. But that's not the version Jennifer told us, nor the version she tells the court. He claims he wasn't there that morning.

• 10:15Speaker 06

  Yeah, well, he was. We both know he was. That's why me and Crystal were like, he's fucking lying.

• 10:26Speaker 01

  The prosecution believes the facts will convict Preston. But a murder isn't a dry math problem. The prosecution needs the jury to feel the case. And so they call Bobby Sue, Sabrina's mother, to testify. The prosecutor picks up a blue bag marked "personal belongings." It contains Sabrina's clothes, those she was wearing when she was fished out of the river. He places the dark pants, the bra, in Bobby's hands, asks her to identify them.

• 11:02Speaker 02

  She was so fragile and sad and just, you know, really a mess. Her hands were trembling. They were clasped very, very tightly. And her face was barely composed. Her grief just kept breaking through.

• 11:16Speaker 01

  Bobby Sue regains her composure, and here's the story she tells the jury about the time she banged on Preston's door demanding answers. It's November 1987, two months after Sabrina disappeared. No one yet knows she's dead. One evening, she shows up at Preston's home unannounced. She comes with reinforcements: Sabrina's grandmother, her aunt, her friends Jennifer and Crystal, and Crystal's mom. Preston wasn't expecting them, but he's hospitable. He invites them in. Then he notices Jennifer and gets furious. "That lying bitch," he says. Jennifer leaves.

• 12:03Speaker 01

  Preston leads Bobby Sue and the rest of her troupe to the living room, which is just a dozen or so feet from where, according to the prosecution, Sabrina was strangled. Tommy's there and sits next to his dad, but doesn't say much. Bobby Sue comes to the point: "What happened to my daughter?"

• 12:26Speaker 06

  He just told me that he didn't know what happened to Sabrina.

• 12:29Speaker 01

  But Bobby Sue has come for some answers.

• 12:32Speaker 06

  What's an old man like you trying to take care of a young girl like that? And he said that he just wanted to be her model agent and her friend.

• 12:44Speaker 01

  Cue the resume. Preston claimed experience in nursing, security, law enforcement. And now, he adds, "He had vast theatrical experience." That's his phrase: "vast theatrical experience." He claims he'd been in the TV business, in the motion picture business. He'd owned studios. He'd been a theatrical agent, a casting agent. And Bobby Sue, he owned modeling agencies, plural. Bobby Sue's reaction on the stand?

• 13:16Speaker 06

  She was not a model. She was just a kid, a lost kid.

• 13:22Speaker 01

  One of the things Preston didn't mention was some experience he may have had in photography. He'd been investigated in the 70s for creating and distributing pornography. Makes me think of those photos of Sabrina in lingerie. Hmm.

• 13:42Speaker 01

  And then the prosecutor moves Bobby Sue to the main point of her story. Something he wants the jurors to focus on. She tells the jury of a question she put to Preston in his living room.

• 13:56Speaker 06

  I asked him, how did he come about making a $400,000 life insurance policy on my daughter since he hadn't even known her for a month? And why did he think he could have that large sum of money on my daughter when she was only 17? Then he said, well, that she took a lot of chances, that she rode on the back of motorcycles, and that she was daring. And he just wanted to make sure he was covered in case there was an accident or something with her.

• 14:27Speaker 01

  Preston had his own explanation.

• 14:29Speaker 05

  I said, you know, it takes a lot of money to launch somebody's career. If you're gonna, you know, I don't care who it is. And I said, can't put out anything. And, and, and, and have you busted up in little pieces on the back of somebody's motorcycle and everything is poof? That was certainly a logical, basic thing. If you're gonna have a pretty girl, you don't want her wiped out.

• 14:55Speaker 01

  But to Bobby Sue, Preston's explanation seems suspicious. After all, he'd only collect if Sabrina died. Facing Preston in the living room, Bobby Sue won't let it go.

• 15:08Speaker 06

  And I kept asking him over and over, well, how could you take such a large sum out on my daughter? And he didn't really answer me. He just talked about how beautiful she was one time, the next time what a slut she was.

• 15:23Speaker 01

  A grim irony. Two weeks after Sabrina went missing, State Farm denied the application for life insurance. The insurance, if it was a motive for murder, was misguided.

• 15:42Speaker 01

  Bobby Su's testimony offers the jury a different side of Preston. That sudden angry outburst at a teenager? Plus, he seemed evasive. And that insurance policy? Why would he apply for insurance? The jury has to wonder. And then the prosecution calls its key witness. The one who claims to know exactly how Suprina's body got in the Colorado River. But is she to be believed? She does have some challenges. Like, for instance, she's an admitted liar. She will tell the court as much.

• 16:23Speaker 06

  I lied on my testimony. The part where I said I didn't know anything.

• 16:38Speaker 06

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• 16:47Speaker 00

  No hassle, no negotiation, no guy from an online listing lowballing you. Which means, by the time I'm done explaining this, you could have basically done it.

• 17:01Speaker 00

  Still haven't started? Hey, better late than ever. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pickup fees may apply.

• 17:10Speaker 00

  Fall never arrives all at once. First the air, then the light. And slowly, the things you love begin to find each other. A jacket meets a dress? A hoodie slips beneath a blazer? An old cap finds a new scarf? Because you don't simply step into the season. You create it, layer by layer, until it finally feels like fall. Find fall your way at Ross.

• 17:49Speaker 01

  The prosecution's star witness is Denise Day, Tommy's girlfriend. Denise is a jailbird. She'd visited jail more than a dozen times. In fact, she was in the TV room of Mojave County Jail when she caught Lindell's segment on a current affair, the segment that reported Tom Preston was in custody, the segment which freed her to come forward. The prosecution has a lot riding on Denise, maybe everything. In court transcripts, her testimony is cinematic. The words she speaks are emotional, dramatic. Though when I asked Lindell, she said Denise's tone didn't match the words.

• 18:35Speaker 02

  She's not very comfortable with authority, so she was very, I don't know, almost robotic in her responses. She spoke like someone completely haunted.

• 18:46Speaker 01

  The prosecution situates the action. Denise is in Preston's home. She explains she was living there with Tommy. One night, she says, she overheard an extraordinary conversation. Preston and his son were hatching a plan, a plan to kill Sabrina.

• 19:09Speaker 01

  A question from the defense attorney: What do you remember being said about the house and the fire?

• 19:16Speaker 06

  That he could set Sabrina on fire and catch the home on fire.

• 19:20Speaker 01

  Who was making the statement about catching her on fire?

• 19:25Speaker 06

  Big Tom.

• 19:26Speaker 01

  Preston has three mortgages on his house. He's in a money crunch.

• 19:32Speaker 06

  He was losing his house.

• 19:34Speaker 01

  The prosecution moves to the events of the day Sabrina disappeared, September 18.

• 19:41Speaker 01

  Preston allegedly strangled Sabrina in the morning. Denise says she and Tommy returned home in the afternoon.

• 19:50Speaker 06

  First thing, we walked in the door. He said Sabrina hadn't come home last night and that we needed to file a missing persons report on her, that he didn't want to be responsible if she got in trouble.

• 20:01Speaker 01

  Did you file the reports in person?

• 20:04Speaker 06

  I told you I don't know. I don't remember. I believe we filed reports with them.

• 20:10Speaker 01

  Keep in mind, this case could hinge on Denise's testimony. And yet, at times, her memory seems iffy. At times, her testimony doesn't seem coherent. At one point, the defense attorney asks, "Are you on drugs now?" Denise says she isn't.

• 20:31Speaker 01

  Here are the details, as Denise recalls them. It's evening, dark out, and Preston comes into their bedroom and asks her and Tommy a question.

• 20:42Speaker 06

  Mr. Preston asked us if we wanted to go to Laughlin, that he had to meet somebody down there.

• 20:47Speaker 01

  Laughlin is on the Colorado River, 95 miles to the south of Las Vegas. That's a 90-minute drive, minimum. Laughlin is a gambling center, second only to Vegas. Why did Denise and Tommy agree to accompany Preston on that long drive on the spur of the moment? In court, Denise tries out a few answers.

• 21:11Speaker 06

  We just agreed, because we liked the river. We'd live there for a while.

• 21:17Speaker 01

  Or for no reason, the pleasure of a long car ride?

• 21:20Speaker 06

  We just agreed, you know? Yeah, we'd like to go. It was unanimous, you know, to go.

• 21:29Speaker 01

  And then, a third try. Denise mentions gambling as a reason. Denise was a big fan of gambling.

• 21:38Speaker 01

  In any case, Preston drove his Oldsmobile, and Tommy followed in his pickup truck. Denise was in the truck's passenger seat. She says she and Tommy didn't talk, apart from Tommy complaining about his dad's slow driving. Preston cruised by the Laughlin exit, turned off the main road at a Budweiser sign.

• 22:04Speaker 06

  It was light. There was a full moon. We drove for a ways to reach the water. And we drove along the river on a dirt road. By this time, I was wondering what was going on.

• 22:17Speaker 01

  Preston stopped his car.

• 22:19Speaker 06

  And we stopped behind him. He got out of his car and he went to the trunk. As he was opening it, he said, "Tom, come help me."

• 22:28Speaker 01

  Tommy got out of the truck to help his dad.

• 22:32Speaker 06

  And there was a girl in the trunk. And she was tied up.

• 22:37Speaker 01

  And then the prosecutor asks, "Ms. Day, what did you see happen next?"

• 22:43Speaker 06

  I seen him pick up a girl out of the trunk.

• 22:46Speaker 01

  The prosecutor continues, "Who pulled the girl out of the trunk?"

• 22:51Speaker 06

  Mr. Preston and Tom started to help him. She was hogtied, with her hands and legs tied behind her back. And they scooped her out of the trunk. And she was wearing something dark. Her head was on the defendant's side. And little Tom had her legs part. And they...

• 23:08Speaker 01

  Prosecutor, was she on her back or face down?

• 23:12Speaker 06

  Face down. She had something on her mouth. It looked like tape, but I wasn't sure.

• 23:18Speaker 01

  Ms. Day, could you see the sex or gender of the body?

• 23:23Speaker 06

  She was... I could tell it was a girl.

• 23:26Speaker 01

  The prosecutor, "Did you recognize who it was?"

• 23:30Speaker 06

  I believe it was Sabrina Kidd.

• 23:35Speaker 01

  Prosecutor again, "Why do you believe it was Sabrina Kidd?"

• 23:40Speaker 06

  Because of the haircut.

• 23:41Speaker 01

  What do you mean the haircut?

• 23:43Speaker 06

  She had on one side of her head was... Her hair was shorter on one side. The hair is... that made me think it was Sabrina Kidd.

• 23:54Speaker 01

  Prosecutor, "Ms. Day, could you tell whether or not the young woman you believe to be Sabrina Kidd was alive or dead?"

• 24:03Speaker 06

  No, I didn't. I did not know if she was or not.

• 24:07Speaker 01

  Preston and Tommy scooped the body out of the trunk. Preston on the head, Tommy on the feet.

• 24:14Speaker 06

  They headed down to the rocks and to the river. They put her face down in the water and took the ropes off and pushed her down into the water.

• 24:23Speaker 01

  Maybe they didn't take the current into account.

• 24:26Speaker 06

  The defendant pushed her out. He just pushed her and she didn't float. She kind of, she didn't float out. She came back in. So he had to push her out further and let her go. I just, after that, I was, my mind was elsewhere. I didn't pay attention to that. I was just praying to God.

• 24:58Speaker 01

  Preston denies this entire story. He denies the murder, denies disposing of the body. He says he knew Denise well and she wasn't trustworthy. She got his son into drugs. She was a thief and a liar. Preston says Denise had it in for him after he reported her for credit card fraud.

• 25:20Speaker 01

  And then Preston says pointedly, if I were to kill somebody, I surely wouldn't include Denise Day in a conspiracy. It's a reasonable assertion, though cold-blooded. Who brings any outsider along to a body disposal? Was Denise really great company? In Denise's telling, Preston regretted her presence. She says he offered her $5,000 to keep quiet and also threatened to kill her if she didn't.

• 25:52Speaker 06

  He threatened me and his son that the same thing would happen to us.

• 25:56Speaker 01

  The same thing that happened to Sabrina. Tommy was murdered the next year, just as he seemed about to confess to his best friend. Denise took that as a warning. That's why she'd initially told Detective Leonard she knew nothing.

• 26:13Speaker 01

  By the way, Denise says she didn't take the $5,000 from Preston.

• 26:19Speaker 01

  So, do we believe Denise? Denise's credibility may well determine if there's a conviction in this case. To me, for all her flaws as a witness, her memory troubles, her checkered past, Denise told a tale of such detailed horror, and told it up close and naming names. To me, it doesn't seem possible she made it all up. And yet, could Denise be so close to the crime and not involved? Here's the question I have. Was Denise telling the whole truth?

• 27:03Speaker 01

  The next witness addresses my question directly. She claims Denise omitted key details. This witness is called by the defense. The defense attorney asks, "Who were you referring to when you said it was a planned murder by all three of them?"

• 27:20Speaker 06

  Tom Senior, Tom Junior, and Denise Day.

• 27:23Speaker 01

  Question, was that statement based upon things that Denise Day said to you?

• 27:28Speaker 06

  Yes, it was.

• 27:30Speaker 01

  This is Kathy Simmons. How does Kathy know Denise? They moved in the same circles, followed similar paths. In other words, Kathy spent time in jail too. After Denise saw Lyndle's current affair segment on the jailhouse TV, she supposedly opened up to her cellmate. Denise's cellmate at the time, Kathy Simmons.

• 27:55Speaker 01

  Preston's lawyers hope Kathy's testimony will show that the prosecution's star witness, Denise Day, is a fabulous, a fancy way to say liar. If they succeed, then nothing Denise says should be taken as credible, right? That, anyway, is their hope. On the stand, Kathy seems confident. She's used to conflict with authorities and isn't easily intimidated. Kathy calls Denise "her dear friend" at one point, though it's pretty clear she doesn't like Denise much.

• 28:33Speaker 06

  She moved in with all different people. She's never been...

• 28:35Speaker 00

  Been real stable. Denise was selling drugs.

• 28:39Speaker 01

  So a drug dealer and drifter, and Kathy adds, always on the grift. Kathy says Denise grifted Sabrina's jewelry after she disappeared. According to Kathy, after the current affair segment aired, Denise had a crisis in the cell.

• 28:59Speaker 00

  She started getting hysterical and crying for, I thought, no reason. And I said, what's wrong with you? And she just started talking about it.

• 29:10Speaker 01

  Over time, Kathy says Denise's story evolved.

• 29:16Speaker 00

  In the beginning, when she first started talking about it, she actually told me she wasn't so involved. But then I guess her conscience was bothering her and she just said how she was involved. And she felt bad and Denise was crying.

• 29:31Speaker 01

  According to Kathy, Denise then talks about the plot to set the house on fire and with it Sabrina.

• 29:39Speaker 00

  In the middle of the conversation, she said, and I was supposed to be the one to do it. Burn her in the house. He wanted me to burn her in the house. And I said, who? And she said, Tom, Tommy's dad. I said, oh.

• 29:55Speaker 01

  Why would Denise even consider doing that? Well, Kathy says Denise told her straight out.

• 30:03Speaker 00

  Denise was saying that she was supposed to get 30% of the insurance money.

• 30:08Speaker 01

  But Denise didn't set the house on fire. She couldn't bring herself to do it.

• 30:16Speaker 01

  But the most important thing Kathy claims Denise told her had to do with Sabrina's actual murder. Kathy says Denise saw much more than she told the jury. Denise had testified she didn't know if Sabrina was dead or alive in the trunk.

• 30:32Speaker 00

  Well, she was alive the whole way there. And when she got out, they had her mouth taped and she tried to ask Denise for a cigarette when they took her out of the trunk. That's what Denise. She looked at her and she tried to ask for a cigarette. And Denise said, I felt bad and I just walked away. And I stood away while he did it.

• 30:53Speaker 01

  Quick question. Would Sabrina hogtied and with tape over her mouth, have as her first utterance, "You got a cigarette"? Maybe in a David Lynch movie.

• 31:09Speaker 01

  On What Happened Next, Kathy's version and Denise's version align, up to a point.

• 31:16Speaker 00

  All she can remember is Sabrina coming back up out of the water, looking at her. Her eyes were still open and that that's what keeps flashing in her mind.

• 31:26Speaker 01

  So Preston and Tommy fished Sabrina out of the water. Now, the two versions diverge.

• 31:32Speaker 00

  He got upset because she kept floating back in and he wanted her to drown. And he snapped her windpipe.

• 31:38Speaker 01

  They then threw her back into the water.

• 31:43Speaker 01

  Kathy says Sabrina's murder is about money. Preston wants Sabrina dead so he can collect insurance. And Denise wants in, which apparently is where Kathy draws the line.

• 31:56Speaker 00

  She was a dear friend of mine, but it's got to be greedy. To do something like this, you got to be greedy.

• 32:05Speaker 01

  According to Kathy's version, Denise is not just a spectator. She's a trusted member of the inner circle, which would explain why she's allowed to witness Sabrina's body being dumped in the river.

• 32:25Speaker 01

  So where do I think this leaves us? Preston's defense team brought in Kathy, hoping she'd discredit Denise. But even if Kathy's version is 100% accurate, and who knows? What's the bottom line? In both Kathy's version and Denise's version, Preston is the murderer. Whether he did it at river's edge or in the house, whether he did it inside of Denise or in the privacy of his own bedroom, both versions agree. Preston murdered Sabrina. And that's what's important.

• 33:09Speaker 01

  It's up to the jury now. The jurors will deliberate for about eight hours until 10 of 1 in the morning. I'm going to read what the judge said. "As I sit here and listen to you, you are very articulate. You appear to be very friendly and jovial. You look rather grandfatherly and like a nice guy. But under that facade, the jury believed, and the evidence presented here shows, you are an evil, heartless predator." We did jury in a bottom title case by defendant Tom Lancore Preston Jr., aka Tom Lancore Preston, guilty of murder of the first degree.

• 33:53Speaker 01

  So Preston is convicted of premeditated murder. A good outcome for a current affair. The company won't be sued now. But Lindell has more immediate concerns. Lindell, the producer, hustles down the hallway, chasing Preston's lawyers for the reaction shot.

• 34:11Speaker 02

  There was little reaction from Tom Preston, so we asked his attorney, Roy Wolfter, to comment on the verdict.

• 34:19Speaker 07

  Excuse me, sir? I want to get kiss my [BLEEP]. You're the instrumental part of this whole situation.

• 34:28Speaker 02

  My reaction to that was no, thank you. And did we get that on tape?

• 34:32Speaker 01

  They did, and it was perfect for television.

• 34:51Speaker 01

  The verdict marked the end, almost, of a long journey for the characters in this story. Preston received a sentence of life without parole and died in prison, protesting his innocence for years.

• 35:06Speaker 01

  After the verdict, other victims came forward with reports of sexual assault. Turned out the supposed humanitarian of the year was a serial sexual predator. For me, the big remaining question is Lyndle. In a way, her involvement in this saga began with a violent attack on a porch in Australia when she was 19 years old. Getting justice for Sabrina was supposed to help her avenge that attack by proxy. Her attacker had gotten away unpunished, Sabrina's wouldn't. And that was supposed to help heal Lyndle, to help her find emotional closure. Well, did it?

• 35:52Speaker 01

  I called on some experts to weigh in.

• 36:00Speaker 00

  I'm Ellie. I'm Lyndle's daughter. I'm the youngest. I'm 24 years old. Grew up my whole life in Sydney, Australia. I want to go to medical school, so I'm applying to that this year. I'm Molly. I am Lyndle's oldest daughter. I'm 28 years old.

• 36:21Speaker 01

  I work in media and production, kind of following in mom's footsteps. And I train full time as an elite CrossFit athlete. The nerd and the athlete is the family shorthand. All three, Lyndle and her two daughters, live together in Los Angeles now. We brought them into the studio. Lyndle and Dan broke up after seven years of marriage. She hasn't been in a serious relationship since. So Lyndle and her girls are a self-contained trio. Luckily for the girls, mom is perfect. We had home-cooked pasta salad lunches every single day with a love note

• 37:05Speaker 00

  from kindergarten through year 12. Mom would drive us all around Sydney and beyond for softball tournaments every weekend. And it was all just kind of done. You know, we'd get there on time. Everything would just be sorted.

• 37:21Speaker 01

  Some kids rebel against parents, like Sabrina. Their heroes are outside the home, not these two. I want to start by saying that mom is my hero. Mom is truly in every way, shape or form. Absolutely my hero, the most incredible human on the planet.

• 37:42Speaker 01

  They were enthralled by her stories of journalism. Sabrina is the number one favorite.

• 37:48Speaker 00

  I feel like that story is, has been such a huge part of this family because I've just known that story for as long as I can remember. How many, how many people can say that their mum solved a murder and has done all this?

• 38:01Speaker 01

  But for a long time, the daughters didn't know about Sabrina's connection to their mom's own experiences. The attack was Lindal's secret. She kept it from her daughters until they were in college.

• 38:17Speaker 02

  I've always been very honest and open with them both. And that was the one thing I had never told them.

• 38:23Speaker 01

  Lindal, the TV producer, produced the encounter with care.

• 38:28Speaker 02

  I wanted to tell them in an intimate setting when it was just the three of us. We were out of Sydney, we're down south in this, this cute little kind of country town. I didn't want it to be anywhere that they would recognize that and, and, you know, combine that with this story.

• 38:48Speaker 01

  She sat them down at a cafe. I remember it was really cold outside. So I remember she was wearing one of her big, beautiful coats and she looked fabulous as she always does. Lindal told them she had a history they didn't know.

• 39:04Speaker 02

  Actually, there's, there's a big area that's been missing that you guys don't know about.

• 39:10Speaker 01

  And I think things kind of started to slow down as she started telling the story. Lindal was calm. She told them methodically about her ex-boyfriend, about the attack, about her face beaten to a pulp.

• 39:27Speaker 00

  She remained really composed. I think Molly and I were just like wide-eyed, jaw on the floor, like what is happening right now? It was just like, how dare someone do this to our mum? I was kind of upset, like, oh, I don't know this massive part of you.

• 39:49Speaker 01

  Ellie was crying, not Molly. The thought of anyone hurting my mum just like makes me so furious.

• 39:59Speaker 01

  Since then, Lindal has been the plus one, which was fine with her. She knew herself. She knew she couldn't bring herself to trust men. The girls had always wondered why their mum seemed closed to intimate partnerships. And then they found out. And now they have an idea for their mum.

• 40:22Speaker 05

  We both advocate strongly for therapy and how much it helps.

• 40:26Speaker 00

  I do not.

• 40:27Speaker 05

  That's for a different podcast.

• 40:28Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 40:28Speaker 05

  We have tried to get mum into therapy.

• 40:30Speaker 00

  And what happens when I've spoken to someone?

• 40:32Speaker 05

  She thinks she's too smart for everyone, because she is. But that's not the attitude we need to have when we're going into therapy. We need to be open minded.

• 40:39Speaker 00

  Even though she's such a catch, like, I think.

• 40:43Speaker 05

  See, did you see that face she just made when Ellie said she's such a catch? That's the self doubt. She is such a catch and she doesn't realise it.

• 40:51Speaker 01

  And so, Lindal, how about the emotional closure that seemed promised when you jumped into the hopeless case of Sabrina Kidd?

• 41:00Speaker 02

  It didn't give me any emotional closure, no.

• 41:04Speaker 01

  But what it did give Lindal was something else, maybe something more important. Does a person really ever recover from the murder of a child or a vicious assault? Those things lurk inside. Grief is endless. But Lindal did find something. Molly said it first.

• 41:27Speaker 05

  I think it made us become closer as a little family unit because, you know, we knew everything and we knew more.

• 41:33Speaker 01

  About mum and we appreciated and understood mum more than we had before. Imagine that kind of closeness, that little community, even of just three. That's where meaning and compassion reside and healing too.

• 41:52Speaker 02

  In a way, it was a great relief sharing it with the two people that mean more to me than anybody else on this planet.

• 42:10Speaker 01

  This is the end of our story, almost. One last issue. There are those in our series who believe that Preston had something to do with the murder of his son Tommy. We have new information to share. It's after the credits. Please stick around.

• 42:31Speaker 00

  Fall never arrives all at once. First the air, then the light. And slowly, the things you love begin to find each other. A jacket meets a dress. A hoodie slips beneath a blazer. An old cap finds a new scarf. Because you don't simply step into the season. You create it layer by layer until it finally feels like fall. Find fall your way at Ross.

• 43:14Speaker 01

  Killer Story is a production of Orbit Media in association with Signal Company Number One. Creator and host is me, Steve Fishman. Executive producers are Lynda Marks, Kevin Wardis, and Jonathan Hirsch from Sony Music Entertainment. Producers Jackie Pauly, Hannah Beal, and Austin Smith. Production coordinator and engineer is Austin Smith.

• 43:36Speaker 01

  Series consultant, Emile Klein, sound designer Britt Spangler, fact-check Ryan Alderman, our lawyers are at Claris Law. Special thanks to Emily Rassik, Steve Ackerman, Catherine St. Louis, Sammy Allison, Allison Haney, Fisher Stevens, and the glamorous Rhea Julian. We also thank our agents at WME, Evan Krassik, Marissa Horowitz, Ben Davis, and a special thanks to Shelley Shinoi for voiceover casting. Our voice actors for our final episode are Raven Dunham as Denise Day, Ava Julian as Kathy Simmons, and Lindsay Smart as Bobby Sumay. And a special, special thanks to the inimitable Emile Klein.

• 44:39Speaker 01

  Tommy Preston is one of the saddest figures in this story. The troubled young man who loved a dad who was a psychopath. Jim and Denise thought that Tommy's father arranged for his murder once Tommy started to talk about the crime. But there's a twist. Someone else pleaded guilty to the murder. A man named Randy Waddell. He's dead, but we do have his court papers. And what they say leads us to a mystery. Waddell took an unusual guilty plea. It's called an Alfred plea. In this plea, you're not admitting guilt to the crime.

• 45:19Speaker 01

  You are admitting that you'd probably be found guilty if you went to trial. Waddell took an Alfred plea to avoid facing the death penalty. But in his allocution to the judge accepting his plea, Waddell insisted on one thing. His lawyer put it this way. "My client maintains that he was not the one who killed Tommy." We'll leave you to ponder that. Have a nice day. Lyndle says she's on the hunt for answers, too.

• 46:12Speaker 00

  Fall never arrives all at once. First the air, then the light. And slowly the things you love begin to find each other. A jacket meets a dress, a hoodie slips beneath a blazer, an old cap finds a new scarf. Because you don't simply step into the season. You create it, layer by layer, until it finally feels like fall. Find fall your way at Ross.