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today. in

28:01

the entire two years that it was there,

28:03

if it was there the whole time? I

28:05

mean, I lived in an

28:07

apartment complex once and they would tow

28:09

cars if they set one spot too long, if they

28:12

didn't belong in that complex, if

28:14

they didn't have your plate number. Yeah, a

28:16

lot of apartment complexes

28:18

have assigned parking. Again, we

28:20

don't know the situation here.

28:23

It appeared that the vehicle

28:25

had been there since

28:27

Shelton disappeared. Because the vehicle

28:29

was found in Richland County,

28:32

that sheriff's department took over

28:34

the investigation. The case was

28:36

upgraded from a missing person

28:38

to a homicide investigation. Shelton's

28:41

friend Mark Richardson was called in

28:43

to give another statement because he

28:45

was the last person seen with

28:47

him on the night he

28:49

disappeared. Mark admitted he and

28:52

Shelton were the only people in

28:54

his home when the gunshots went

28:56

off. And to me, this is

28:58

a big admission. Number one, you're

29:00

admitting there were gunshots. We already

29:02

said that when questioned by a

29:04

neighbor, Mark said that that

29:07

was a car backfire. Right. Well,

29:10

now he's admitting to

29:12

police that there were gunshots

29:15

and that he and Shelton were the only

29:17

two people at his house. So now it's

29:19

getting interesting. Yeah, according

29:21

to Sergeant Walter McDaniels, Mark

29:23

made statements that caused

29:25

investigators to focus on him as

29:28

the main suspect. Mark

29:30

said during his interview per Sergeant

29:32

McDaniels, let me ask you a

29:34

hypothetical question. Is there

29:37

such thing as an accidental death

29:39

in the state of South Carolina? That's

29:42

a strange thing to say during

29:44

an interview. Yeah,

29:46

unless you want to be public

29:49

enemy number one or

29:52

rise immediately, do not pass

29:54

go, do not collect $200

29:57

to the top of the suspect list.

29:59

It's a very strange thing to say.

30:01

I mean, for me, that's a question

30:03

you would go to an

30:06

attorney's office and say, Hey,

30:08

tell me about accidental death

30:10

in this state. You mean after

30:13

you've already obtained your attorney client

30:15

privilege? Yes. But

30:17

that coming on the heels

30:19

of, you know, this admission

30:21

about the gunshots and all

30:24

that, yeah, he's going

30:26

to be focused on Mark was

30:28

told that he would be given

30:30

the opportunity to explain himself. He

30:32

then asked, how can I

30:34

explain getting rid of a body?

30:36

Again, that's just another bizarre thing

30:38

to say during a interview.

30:41

And you know, I watch a lot of police

30:44

interviews and I'm always amazed

30:46

by the things that people

30:48

choose to say when

30:50

Gibbs, they really don't have to

30:53

say anything at all, but the

30:55

stuff that they offer up either

30:59

is very incriminating towards

31:01

them, or at the

31:03

very least is going to shift

31:05

the, the direction of the police

31:07

towards them. I'm sure at

31:09

this point, investigators are like, did we

31:11

just hit the lotto? Is he admitting

31:14

what we think he's admitting? Cause it kind

31:16

of sounds like he might be. According

31:18

to WLTX, McDaniel said, I

31:21

told Richardson, the Sanders just wanted

31:23

their son back. The remains of

31:25

their son at the time. He

31:28

then put his head down and said, I can't

31:30

do that. I went to their

31:33

house acting like I was going to

31:35

help them. Mark became frustrated

31:37

at this point. He said he

31:39

helped look for Shelton, but refused

31:41

to say anything else to the

31:43

police. Okay. You probably should have

31:45

stopped two or three statements

31:47

before that, but investigators

31:50

checked his phone records using

31:53

triangulation. They were able to place him

31:55

in the area where Shelton's car was

31:57

found on the night he went missing.

32:00

Not long after the gunshots were

32:02

hurt. Well, this is not looking

32:04

good for Mark. No, not at all. I

32:06

mean, things are seeming to line

32:09

up for him having

32:11

been involved in whatever

32:13

happened to Shelton Sanders and on

32:16

October 5th, 2005, 30 year old

32:18

Mark Richardson

32:20

was arrested and charged with murder.

32:23

The arrest warrant stated that Mark shot

32:25

and killed Shelton and that he admitted

32:28

to being the only person with Shelton

32:30

in the home. When neighbors

32:32

heard a series of gunshots, investigators

32:35

believed that after the shooting, he

32:37

drove Shelton's vehicle to the

32:39

apartment complex and abandoned

32:42

it. Authorities didn't have a

32:44

clear motive. However, Mark had expressed

32:46

in detail his desire to kill

32:48

one of his friends. Witnesses

32:51

signed sworn statements attesting

32:54

to this. Imagine how upset

32:56

Shelton's family were. To

32:58

find out this was one of his friends. Yeah,

33:01

obviously they're going to be upset,

33:03

but are they also going

33:06

to have, should

33:08

I say a little bit of hope that maybe

33:11

finally there might be a

33:13

resolution and they're, they're going

33:15

to find out what happened to their son. Now

33:17

they don't want to find out the

33:19

worst, but you got to think

33:22

at some point Gibbs this many years on, they

33:24

want to know whatever the answer is.

33:26

They want to know. But I want

33:28

to talk about multiple

33:30

people signing affidavits

33:34

stating that Mark had

33:36

said he wanted to kill one of

33:38

his friends. Was this a one

33:41

person in particular or just

33:43

generally one of his friends?

33:45

Yeah. Cause I think if

33:48

you're one of his friends hearing this, okay,

33:51

we're probably not going to be seeing

33:53

each other as much. I would say

33:55

you'd want to distance yourself right away.

33:58

In October, 2005. William

34:00

Sanders spoke to the item and

34:03

explained that the family kept quiet

34:05

for so long because they

34:07

didn't want to jeopardize the investigation.

34:10

He added, we have shied

34:12

away from talking to newspapers

34:14

and television stations. We

34:16

want to shield our family from any dangers

34:18

that might be out there. We're dealing

34:21

with so many unknowns. Our

34:23

son disappeared in the night. This put

34:25

you in defensive mode. We

34:27

have elected to remain silent to

34:30

protect our children. And

34:32

I completely understand this way

34:34

of thinking, yeah, on the one hand,

34:36

you probably do

34:38

want to get in front of

34:40

news cameras and talk to papers

34:42

and and just get the story

34:44

out there. Keep the story out

34:47

there because you want to find your

34:49

son or find out what happened to him.

34:51

At the same time, is

34:54

there an element of danger that

34:56

whoever did something

34:58

to Mark, if that's what happened,

35:01

may want to target someone

35:04

else in the family, especially

35:06

if you start running your mouth

35:08

or talking a lot. They might say, you know, we're

35:10

going to get you to be quiet. So

35:12

we're hurt. One of your other family members. And maybe

35:15

you're quit talking. Sanders was hesitant

35:17

to speak about Mark Richardson, but

35:19

said that he was an acquaintance

35:21

of Shelton, not a close

35:24

friend or roommate. Like the media reported,

35:26

Sanders explained his name came up

35:28

when we made contact with his

35:31

friends and coworkers trying to find

35:33

out what might have happened. He

35:35

did not believe Shelton was involved

35:37

in any kind of dispute before

35:39

he disappeared. Shelton had a

35:41

close relationship with his dad and went

35:44

to him often for advice. He

35:46

said nothing was too private or personal

35:48

for him to come to me about.

35:50

I don't know of any issue he

35:52

was facing before he disappeared. And

35:54

I believe that. I believe they had a really

35:56

close connection and I don't. think

36:00

he was into anything that would

36:03

jeopardize his life. Yeah, I would

36:05

agree with you. Now, I would say that

36:08

even if they had a super

36:10

close relationship, does it

36:12

mean that there couldn't have been something

36:15

going on that he

36:17

would not have wanted to tell his

36:19

father about? I mean, there's always that

36:21

potential. Yeah, because if

36:24

it's something that is going to put you

36:26

in a bad light or disappoint

36:28

your family, well, maybe

36:30

that's one of those things that you don't

36:32

want to disclose. Mark Richardson's

36:34

murder trial started on April 15, 2008.

36:39

Prosecutors argued that Mark fatally shot Shelton

36:41

on the night of June 19, 2001. But

36:45

as we talked about earlier, Gibbs,

36:48

they were dealing with a very

36:50

difficult case because Shelton's body had

36:52

not been found. Director

36:54

John Meters told the jury that

36:57

a defendant should not be rewarded

37:00

for doing a good job of concealing

37:02

a body. That's a great

37:04

statement to make. It is. And

37:06

I think it's true, but

37:09

it doesn't change the fact that

37:11

without a body, I think

37:13

it's more likely that a jury

37:15

is going to have questions

37:18

that are going to be hard to

37:20

answer. And I'm sure the defense attorneys

37:22

are going to make sure of that. Police

37:24

think it's going to lead to a greater

37:26

chance of, you know, jury members

37:29

having a reasonable doubt. Solicitor

37:32

Barney Geiss argued per

37:34

WIS 10, the

37:36

state submits Mark Richardson convicts

37:39

himself with his statement. The

37:41

prosecution noted that police were

37:44

not able to verify Richardson's

37:46

alibi. The defense maintained

37:48

that it wasn't a murder

37:50

case because Shelton was

37:53

considered a missing person. The

37:55

prosecutors had no crime scene, no

37:58

eyewitnesses, no weapon. and

38:00

no body, no weapons, blood,

38:03

or other forensic evidence was

38:05

found when the police searched

38:08

Richardson's home and car or

38:10

the recovered vehicle. That's

38:12

a tough way to go. It's an uphill

38:14

climb, right? I think on the

38:16

part of the prosecution, in many

38:18

cases that we talk about on

38:21

true crime all the time, you know, we're

38:23

really kind of diving into

38:25

what you would call a mountain

38:27

of evidence, right? It just keeps

38:29

piling up and piling up against

38:32

a defendant. I don't

38:34

think that's what we have here. I

38:37

mean, let's just break down the

38:39

search of Richardson's

38:42

home and car and

38:44

Shelton's car. If the

38:46

prosecution's theory is that Mark

38:49

Richardson shot Shelton

38:52

Sanders inside his home, wouldn't

38:54

there be an expectation that

38:57

they would find some evidence of that? Absolutely.

39:00

So the absence of that, how

39:03

is that going to play with the jury? I

39:06

think it's gonna be tough. Really tough. The

39:08

state called on Mark Richardson's

39:10

former neighbor, Friedna Wessinger,

39:13

who testified about hearing

39:15

three, what she

39:17

called very repetitive gunshots on the night

39:19

of June 19th, 2001. Shelton's

39:23

father testified that he called Mark

39:26

a few days after Shelton went

39:28

missing. In their first phone

39:30

conversation on June 25th, Mark

39:33

explained that Shelton met him at

39:35

a hotel in Columbia, which they

39:37

were checking out for the upcoming

39:39

bachelor party. Richardson was

39:41

swearing repeatedly during the

39:43

conversation and Sanders at one

39:45

point told him to calm down. Mark

39:48

was angry and said he wouldn't

39:50

talk to him because he

39:52

was a judge. And you

39:54

know, when I read that, I thought that

39:56

was very strange. You have a father calling.

40:00

about his son, your

40:03

friend of some degree, and

40:06

you're going to start swearing at him. I

40:08

found that very odd. It is strange. Mark

40:11

came to the Sanders home the following day

40:14

and told a different story about

40:16

how he and Shelton met up on June 19th.

40:20

Mark had to be escorted off the

40:22

property. Oh, so a

40:24

little heated it sounds like. Well, if

40:27

you're Shelton's dad

40:29

at a certain point, are

40:32

you going to start to get upset? You

40:34

know, you're trying to have a conversation with this guy

40:36

on the phone. He's cussing and

40:39

then he comes to the house and

40:41

starts doing the flip flop thing

40:43

with his story. I can see

40:45

how the patience is

40:47

probably thin already. You

40:49

know, the motions are running high and

40:52

now your BS meters probably

40:54

shooting off through the roof. Sure.

40:57

Next, the sheriff's deputy who found

40:59

Shelton's car while on patrol described

41:01

how it was dirty with flat

41:04

tires and a weathered beer bottle

41:06

in the back. Just

41:08

think it's strange that it sat there so long. Well,

41:11

it's going to have flat tires, you would think,

41:14

over a couple of years. A

41:16

former tenant of the Greenbrier apartment said

41:18

the car was parked below his unit

41:20

for some time. At first

41:22

he thought it was suspicious, but then

41:25

it just kind of became part of

41:27

the landscape. That's what he said. I

41:29

had a reason to call the authorities and have

41:31

them check it out. It looks just, you know,

41:33

just this here. Well, how

41:35

much of that gives though is you

41:38

see something, you don't know what it

41:40

means. Is it maybe a

41:42

little suspicious? Yeah. But is, does

41:44

it rise to the level of, well, I should call

41:46

the police. And I think for a

41:48

lot of people it doesn't. And

41:50

then after that, you're just seeing

41:53

it day after day and you're probably

41:55

not giving it a second thought anymore.

41:57

It's just part of the individual. said,

42:00

part of the landscape. Sumter

42:02

County Major Perry Herrert testified

42:05

that when he and

42:07

an investigator approached Mark Richardson

42:09

at his workplace, his

42:11

first words were, I didn't kill

42:13

anybody. It's always such a weird

42:15

thing to say. You know, you see it

42:17

in the movies and you've heard it, you

42:20

know, in other cases, you know, I

42:22

didn't do it. I didn't kill anybody. It

42:24

wasn't me. You make it sound

42:26

like maybe it was. Or maybe you

42:28

should first find out what those people are here to

42:31

talk to you about. Sorry, sir. We

42:33

were just here to tell you that somebody bumped

42:35

into your car out in the parking lot, but

42:37

let's go back to this, you didn't kill anybody

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June 27, 2003,

45:10

investigators followed Richardson to his home.

45:13

He said they could have a look around but

45:16

not search. Investigators found

45:18

a Glock .45 caliber

45:20

handgun. Under his pillow, Mark

45:23

explained that he had it for personal protection.

45:25

He then told the investigators not to

45:27

come back without a warrant. So

45:30

let's first talk about the phrase,

45:32

you can look around but not

45:34

search. Yeah, that's kind

45:37

of a strange thing to say. I would

45:39

just say no. It's either

45:42

yes or no. Yeah. Because once

45:44

they're inside, what does looking

45:46

around constitute? Now

45:48

you're going to get into the definition

45:50

of looking around. The

45:53

police obtained a search warrant and

45:56

seized the gun. Mark was

45:58

questioned again about what he knew

46:00

about Shelton's disappearance. The defense pointed

46:02

out that no incriminating evidence was

46:04

found in his home and

46:07

no one searched his vehicle. The

46:09

next witness was Ross Bridges who

46:12

testified that Shelton stopped by his

46:14

apartment either on the day of

46:16

his disappearance or the day before

46:19

with a bouquet of flowers which he

46:21

planned on giving to a girl. Shelton

46:24

took the flowers with him when

46:26

he left Bridges' place. He

46:28

drove off in a white car which

46:30

was different from his normal vehicle. An

46:33

investigator testified that Shelton's flower

46:35

bouquet was in the vehicle

46:37

when it was found in

46:39

2003. Investigator Ray

46:41

Livingston testified that there was an

46:44

oil stain under the vehicle and

46:47

when it was moved there were black spots

46:49

where the tires had been. This

46:51

indicated it had been there for months

46:54

possibly as long as Shelton had

46:56

been missing. And I would

46:58

say that's a pretty good bet. You

47:00

know you talk about tires going flat.

47:03

Could that happen in a matter of months?

47:05

Yeah maybe but probably it

47:07

took much longer. Yeah I mean

47:10

the car definitely was sitting there for a

47:12

long time. The defense argued

47:15

that the scene was contaminated

47:17

because investigators touched the door

47:19

handles before dusting for prints

47:22

and no one tested the oil stain to

47:24

make sure it came from the vehicle. However

47:27

investigators had said that exposure

47:29

to the elements and the

47:32

passage of time destroyed evidence.

47:35

And again I'm no forensic

47:37

expert but I would think if

47:40

a car was sitting outside for

47:43

four years or two

47:45

years or whatever it was not

47:48

sure you're getting any prints off

47:50

the door handle at that point.

47:53

Probably unlikely but does it

47:55

hurt to make the attempt? No

47:58

no I get your point it doesn't but But

48:00

I mean, think about how

48:02

many rainstorms and all

48:04

the different types of weather that

48:06

that car would have been subject

48:09

to. I do think it

48:11

would have been pretty tough.

48:14

The defense also pointed out that

48:16

no forensic evidence was found linking

48:18

Mark Richardson or Shelton to

48:20

the vehicle. Even though

48:23

numerous items were swapped, the

48:25

prosecutor pulled out a black backpack that

48:27

was found in the vehicle and asked,

48:30

does this connect Shelton to the car?

48:32

The state focused on two calls made

48:35

by Richardson that occurred around 1249 am

48:38

on June 20th, 2001. The

48:41

calls went to a cell tower

48:43

that indicated a strong possibility. He

48:46

was near the green Briar apartments.

48:49

A radio frequency engineer testified that the

48:51

last time a call was generated from

48:53

Shelton's phone was June 19th, 2001 at

48:55

907 pm in downtown Columbia. When

49:02

questioned by the defense, he

49:04

said his records only went through June

49:06

19th. The defense

49:08

presented a summary of Shelton's phone

49:10

activity up to July 4th, which

49:13

included an 18 minute

49:15

incoming call. The item

49:17

did not report what date this call

49:19

occurred, but we know that Shelton had

49:21

no phone activity after June 19th. The

49:24

defense's summary was not entered into

49:26

evidence because no one knew who

49:28

prepared it. And I don't know what

49:31

this 18 minute incoming call

49:33

would mean. You know,

49:35

was it an answered call? Can

49:37

you leave an 18 minute voicemail

49:41

or was this someone

49:45

who had Shelton's phone

49:47

called it to kind of make

49:50

this log of

49:52

this 18 minute call? That's

49:55

a strong possibility. The jury

49:57

heard that Richardson's home was first

49:59

searched. On June 29th, 2001, a

50:02

knife was found and tested for

50:04

the presence of Shelton's blood, but

50:07

it came back negative. The item

50:09

reported that a .45 caliber

50:11

Glock was seized, but did not say

50:13

if it was the same gun that

50:15

was seized during the 2003 search.

50:19

Investigators did not know if it

50:21

was the murder weapon because they

50:23

didn't have a body. That's a problem.

50:26

It really is. On a

50:28

number of different levels. Former friends

50:30

testified that Mark was paranoid

50:32

and suspicious of others around

50:35

the time of Shelton's disappearance.

50:37

According to local outlet

50:39

WIS10, Mark's former friend

50:41

Wesley Young testified that

50:44

he was scary. Like I said,

50:46

he made it seem like individuals were

50:48

out to get him. Like we

50:50

had some type of like hidden

50:53

agenda. And what is it

50:55

with this younger generation that can't help

50:57

but use the word like 15 times

51:00

in a sentence. It's a lot of likes. It is.

51:03

My daughters do it too. Well, you

51:05

know, like I was going to say, like, you

51:07

know, because, uh, sometimes

51:10

like, you know, you don't want to use the word like, you

51:12

know what I mean? Actually,

51:16

even with all the likes, that's one of

51:18

the most coherent sentences that

51:20

you've said in a long time. So wrong.

51:23

So wrong, but I like it. Another

51:26

witness said that around the time

51:28

Shelton disappeared, Mark called him to

51:30

ask if he was interested in buying a

51:32

38 caliber handgun.

51:35

So, I mean, you've got a lot

51:37

of testimony here. You have

51:39

witnesses. It doesn't make

51:41

Mark look great. No,

51:44

but I think if you're

51:46

the prosecution, you can't be

51:48

feeling great at this point about your

51:51

evidence. No, you

51:53

need that body. There's no way

51:55

to know if he was killed,

51:57

how it happened. If he was shot. there's

52:00

no way to tell what caliber, right?

52:03

They seized a 45 caliber, but

52:05

what good does that do you when you can't

52:07

prove that a 45 caliber was

52:09

used? Doesn't do anything for you. You

52:12

search the home and can't provide

52:14

any evidence that Shelton's

52:17

blood was found in there, wasn't

52:19

found on a knife. I'm

52:22

just picturing myself on

52:24

the jury. I would be having a tough

52:26

time I think at this point. Yeah,

52:29

same here. I don't know how you

52:31

could convict somebody based on what

52:33

they laid out in front of you right now.

52:35

Now you might think this person's guilty all day

52:37

long, but to honestly

52:39

say that you don't have reasonable doubt,

52:42

I do think that would be pretty

52:44

tough. It would be. Both

52:46

sides presented closing arguments and

52:48

the jury went into deliberation.

52:51

On April 21st, 2008, the

52:53

jury was unable to reach a

52:55

verdict and the judge declared

52:57

a mistrial. Seven jurors

52:59

voted guilty and five voted

53:01

not guilty. Mark's defense

53:03

attorney said per WIS 10, the

53:06

verdict is a disappointment for everyone

53:08

involved. Both families wanted closure.

53:11

Anytime a person accused of a crime

53:13

comes out of court without a guilty

53:16

verdict, the defendant feels a great

53:18

sense of relief. When we

53:20

talked about a lot of evidence, obviously

53:22

we don't have every single piece

53:25

of evidence or every witness statement

53:27

from the trial, but I was

53:29

a little bit surprised that the

53:32

vote came out the way

53:35

it did. I mean, there were seven people

53:37

who voted guilty. And my assumption

53:39

Gibbs is it has to be pretty

53:42

much based on Mark's

53:45

own statement, you know, coupled

53:47

with the neighbor hearing gunshots,

53:50

him saying there was gunshots. There

53:52

was nobody else, but he in Shelton

53:55

at the home and

53:57

this hypothetical question, is

53:59

there. such thing as an accidental death

54:01

in the state of California. Also

54:04

him saying, or asking,

54:06

how can I explain getting

54:08

rid of a body? And

54:11

I really do think that prosecutors going

54:13

into this, I mean, they even said

54:16

that Mark's statements will

54:18

convict him. Yeah. And

54:20

I think they relied heavily on

54:22

that. And there probably were some jurors. It

54:25

does sound like there were that were swayed

54:28

by that. But I think when you get

54:30

down to the nitty gritty evidence,

54:34

the hardcore evidence, they're just, there wasn't

54:36

much. Just wonder if they went with

54:38

a lesser charge. Could they had

54:41

success doing that? Yeah, I

54:43

don't know. It's a, it's a good question. According

54:46

to public records, Richardson

54:48

left Columbia at some point

54:50

after the trial. I can't

54:52

imagine that I wouldn't do the same. You know,

54:55

fresh start is probably needed

54:58

after going through that. Probably don't want to hang around.

55:00

No, because based on the

55:02

jury vote, there are probably

55:05

a ton of people in

55:07

and around that town

55:09

who believe you are guilty. Yeah. Authorities

55:12

have still not been able to

55:15

find Shelton Sanders remains. In 2011,

55:17

the family set up

55:19

a Facebook page called finding

55:21

Shelton Sanders. They established a

55:23

tip line and did

55:26

interviews with local and national news

55:28

outlets to keep Shelton's case in

55:30

the public eye. Well, that's what you

55:32

got to do. You got to keep it out there. Yeah,

55:34

you have to. When you have a missing

55:37

loved one, Shelton sister

55:39

will Veria took over the search efforts

55:41

in 2018. She

55:43

said that her parents shielded her

55:46

as much as they could when she

55:48

was young. She was just 11

55:50

years old when Shelton went missing

55:53

after so many years, the case was

55:55

starting to wear on her parents. So

55:57

she felt ready to fill in as

55:59

the. primary family spokesperson.

56:02

Wilveria has used social media

56:04

to spread awareness. She

56:07

provided reward money arranged for billboards

56:09

to be put up in Columbia,

56:12

Sumter and Greenville, South

56:14

Carolina, and put up

56:17

signs at intersections. She

56:19

also got former Dallas Cowboys running

56:21

back Emmett Smith, who was Shelton's

56:23

favorite player to make a

56:25

video raising awareness about Shelton's case. Sounds

56:28

like she's doing a lot of impressive

56:30

stuff to get it out there. Yeah.

56:33

In 2020, lead

56:35

investigator Sergeant McDaniels

56:37

told WLTX, there

56:39

is absolutely no doubt from our

56:42

standpoint that this victim, Shelton

56:44

Sanders found his demise by

56:46

way of his friend, Mark

56:49

Richardson. That's a pretty strong statement. It

56:51

is. And I think they're all in

56:53

on Mark Richardson.

56:56

Obviously they charged him, they

56:58

tried him. It

57:01

didn't work out the way that

57:03

they had hoped it would, but I

57:06

don't think in their minds, anything has

57:08

changed. McDaniels who

57:10

is now retired shared

57:12

his frustrations about the mistrial with W

57:15

A C H Fox news in 2022. He said,

57:19

unfortunately Mark Richardson

57:21

was not found guilty of murdering

57:23

Shelton Sanders and

57:25

Mark Richardson put his hand in his

57:27

face and is like, how do I

57:29

explain getting rid of a body? Well,

57:32

why would you have to explain unless

57:34

you got rid of a body? Very

57:37

good point. It is. It is a

57:40

very good point. I'm guessing that's

57:42

why seven of the jurors voted

57:44

the way they did. Yeah. But here

57:47

again, and this is something that we've

57:49

kind of been touching on lately. There

57:52

is a difference between someone

57:54

saying words in an interview and then trying

57:59

to back that up

58:02

with substantial evidence.

58:04

My assumption is that the jurors who voted not

58:07

guilty didn't believe that the words

58:13

were enough by themselves. McDaniel's

58:16

added, he was the last person with

58:18

him. Gunshots were heard at

58:20

his house by a credible witness. So

58:23

why would you need to explain that? All

58:25

the evidence points to Mark Richardson.

58:28

And I would say that is a

58:31

pretty true statement. All the

58:33

evidence does point towards

58:35

Mark Richardson. The question

58:37

is, is there enough

58:39

evidence pointing towards him

58:42

to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that

58:46

he killed Shelton Sanders? That's the

58:48

big question. Yeah. And

58:50

I think, you know, the last trial answered

58:52

that. At least for that

58:54

jury. Sure. They could not

58:56

come to a unanimous decision and

58:59

there were five people. It wasn't like there

59:01

was just one holdout. There were

59:03

five people who voted

59:05

not guilty in June 2021. Dozens

59:09

of people gathered to raise awareness

59:11

for Shelton's case on the 20th

59:13

anniversary of his disappearance. Former

59:16

Sergeant McDaniel's told Dateline,

59:19

he was hopeful the case would be solved soon.

59:22

Investigators believe they have the evidence

59:24

to take Mark Richardson back to

59:26

court. According to Dateline, he

59:28

is the only suspect at this time.

59:31

However, both investigators and the

59:33

family believe others know something

59:36

about what happened to

59:38

Shelton. Well, various Sanders

59:40

told Dateline, we've forgiven

59:43

anyone who's had any dealings with the

59:45

murder or disappearance of my brother. We

59:48

just want to bring him home to

59:50

a proper burial spot where

59:52

he belongs in June 2022

59:56

Shelton's family increased the reward to $50,000. healthy.

1:00:00

It is a pretty healthy reward. Many

1:00:03

people have hope that Shelton's case will

1:00:05

be resolved one day and

1:00:07

his remains will be located. Anyone

1:00:10

with information about the disappearance of

1:00:12

Shelton Sanders can call the Richland County

1:00:14

Sheriff's office at 803-576-3000 or the Shelton

1:00:17

Sanders informational

1:00:22

hotline at 803-427-4209. You

1:00:28

can also email

1:00:30

finding Shelton Sanders@gmail.com.

1:00:33

So as we wrap this case

1:00:35

up Gibbs, you know, a lot of times

1:00:38

we're talking about a number

1:00:40

of potential persons of interest or possible

1:00:44

suspects. In this case, we're

1:00:46

not. We are talking about

1:00:48

one person, Mark

1:00:50

Richardson who the police believe

1:00:53

had something to do with whatever happened

1:00:55

to Shelton. Yeah. To

1:00:58

the point where, you know,

1:01:00

prosecutors took him to trial,

1:01:02

they charged him, they tried him. I do believe,

1:01:04

as I think you said earlier in the episode,

1:01:09

none of the stuff that we've talked about looks

1:01:12

good for Mark. No, it doesn't look good at all.

1:01:14

But is it ever going to be enough to get a conviction? No,

1:01:19

I don't think it is. Not what we think is

1:01:21

going to be enough. Not

1:01:24

what we talked about. I

1:01:27

think they're going to have to

1:01:29

bring more and they're going to have to bring more

1:01:33

of substance to get

1:01:35

a jury of 12 people to all vote guilty.

1:01:40

Cause just going through what we went through

1:01:42

that came out at the trial,

1:01:45

I think even myself, I would have a hard

1:01:48

time. It's not an open and

1:01:50

shut case by any me. And

1:01:52

I think, you know, for a

1:01:54

juror, then you're really relying on,

1:01:56

you know, how tough

1:01:59

is the burden for you when

1:02:02

it comes to reasonable doubt. And

1:02:04

you know, it means a little something

1:02:06

different, I think to different people, seven

1:02:09

people were convinced. Five

1:02:11

people were not. Now, could

1:02:13

you get another jury who would

1:02:16

vote differently based on the exact same thing?

1:02:18

Well, sure you could, but next

1:02:20

time it could be seven, five the other way.

1:02:22

Exactly. It could flip on you. And

1:02:24

I think it's probably why they

1:02:26

haven't retried him yet.

1:02:29

My assumption is they came out of that

1:02:31

thinking we need more. And maybe

1:02:33

they need to charge them differently. Yeah.

1:02:36

I think they need to do something differently,

1:02:39

whether that's come up with more concrete

1:02:42

evidence. You know, there,

1:02:44

there was circumstantial, there was a lot of that.

1:02:46

Sure. But I don't even

1:02:48

think there was enough circumstantial

1:02:50

evidence, obviously for five

1:02:53

of the people on the jury. But

1:02:55

that's it for our episode on

1:02:57

Shelton Sanders. We got some voicemails

1:02:59

you and check those out with serum. Hey,

1:03:02

Mike and Gibby. I'm not sure if this

1:03:04

is the right phone number for Unsolved as

1:03:06

if the only one that showed up on

1:03:08

the website. However, I just finished listening to

1:03:10

Buffalo Jim and wanted to give you guys

1:03:13

a little bit of a fun fact about

1:03:15

GHB since that was a bit of a

1:03:17

topic towards the end of the show. GHB

1:03:19

is also a medicinal medicine for those of

1:03:21

us who have narcolepsy or idiopathic

1:03:24

hypothermia, which is another sleep disorder.

1:03:27

It is a life-changing medication when

1:03:30

used properly. However, it's mostly known

1:03:32

for its improper uses and abuse, uh, which

1:03:36

can be fatal. So just wanted to

1:03:38

give you that little tidbit and hope that you

1:03:40

guys enjoy that fun fact. The more you know, I

1:03:42

am team Gibby and team Mike and have a great

1:03:44

night. Keep

1:03:47

your head on a swivel. Awesome. Thanks for

1:03:49

the voicemail. Thanks for the input. I also did

1:03:51

see Gibbs where it has some, I thought it said, um, like, I

1:03:53

don't know if it was performance

1:04:00

enhancing, but like athletes can use

1:04:02

it for something as well. Right.

1:04:05

So it does have

1:04:07

some legitimate uses, which

1:04:10

a lot of drugs do, but then it can

1:04:12

be used in a way, you

1:04:15

know, in which it's not supposed to

1:04:17

be. Improperly? Improperly. Yeah. I liked the

1:04:19

way that she spelled it out. I did too. And she was

1:04:21

team Gibby first. Hey

1:04:23

guys, I just listened to the Buffalo

1:04:25

gym episode on TKD on 12 and

1:04:27

you all said in there

1:04:29

that apparently there's a lot of money that

1:04:31

goes in district clubs. Allegedly is what you

1:04:34

said and that you wouldn't know, but, uh,

1:04:36

if the, we all know back in the

1:04:38

day, you should be a male stripper, you

1:04:40

know, you were a deep magic Mike, so

1:04:42

either you're aligned to us or

1:04:44

you got something that you're not telling us

1:04:46

you're covering something up on you, Giddy. I

1:04:50

think the funniest part of that one is he

1:04:52

said back in the day, like he

1:04:54

thinks on the weekends, you're still not out there

1:04:56

doing it. Hey.

1:04:58

You know, gotta, gotta do what

1:05:01

I gotta do. Now your fans have maybe

1:05:03

moved into a different

1:05:05

demographic. Maybe. But the

1:05:08

show is pretty much the same from what

1:05:10

I've heard. Just a slower pace. The reviews

1:05:13

on Yelp are not quite what they used

1:05:15

to be, but. I can't pull the

1:05:17

backflips off like I used to. The

1:05:20

split. And

1:05:22

when I do do, when I do go down, it takes me

1:05:24

a little bit longer to get back up. Yeah. It's,

1:05:27

it's for us. Yeah. I

1:05:29

have a feeling you'll be out there with a

1:05:31

Walker just, you know, doing a show. However

1:05:34

you have to improvise. Shake

1:05:37

and bake. Shake and bake. Oh

1:05:41

yeah. I think on that note, um,

1:05:44

we will definitely get out. That

1:05:46

is another episode of a true

1:05:48

crime all the time, unsolved. So for Mike

1:05:50

and Giddy, stay safe and keep your own

1:05:53

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