Serial Killer`s Burial Site, Six Missing Girls May Be Buried In Site; Shocking Twist, Missing Husband, Gators Didn`t Eat Man, Wife Killed Him; 69-Year-Old Arthur Ream Who Is Behind Bars For Killing His Son`s Girlfriend, Who Was 13 Is Now  Suspect Of Killing Three Or Four Women
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST, HLN CRIME AND JUSTICE: Good evening, everyone, I`m Ashleigh Banfield, welcome to Crime and Justice. Tonight, up to six families could get justice of their own after decades of torment. Police tearing up a Michigan farm looking for the bodies of several teenage girls, girls who went missing in the 1970s and the 1980s. CNN`s Ryan Young, has been covering their search. And the man who just may have put those women there, what do we know, Ryan?</s>RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ashleigh, he actually led police to this site 10 years ago when he was convicted of killing his son`s teenage girlfriend back in 1986. But now police say, this land could be a burial site for four of six other girls he killed and burying their bodies may not be all that he did to them.</s>BANFIELD: All right. Ryan, we`ll come out to you live in a moment. Also, another murder suspect is behind bars tonight, but this one is a widow, and her long dead husband is her alleged victim. For years they thought he went missing while hunting, attacked and eaten by a gator in Florida. This is not a joke. Kyle Peltz has been tracking the twists and turns on this one. Kyle, why did they arrest his wife after all these years?</s>KYLE PELTZ, CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER: That is right. It was a surprise arrest. While she was at work. But wait until you hear who she married after her husband disappeared and how a life insurance policy might just be involved?</s>BANFIELD: Always say follow the money. All right. Kyle, we`ll check in with you on that one in a moment. Also, horrifying new details about the abuse that these two beautiful little sisters endured before their mom reportedly killed them in their sleep. Then later on the grandfather who managed to take down an armed robbery suspect on the run when the police officers themselves didn`t seem to be able to trip him up. Did a hell of a job himself. First, I want to get that crucial question to you, a crucial question I really wish, I didn`t have to ask, what is in the water in Michigan? Because that is where two different murders, already serving life in prison for killing young women, are suddenly suspected of far worse crimes. 47-year-old Jeffrey Willis is the man who killed a beautiful jogger four years ago, but now prosecutors are saying, he made a young gas station clerk disappear too just one year before. And that isn`t all. They also say he kidnapped a 16-year-old girl back in 2016. She escaped, being locked in his van after she`d been held at gunpoint. And good thing she did, because Police say inside that sinister van they found syringes, Viagra, sex toys and restraining rods. And when they searched his house they reportedly found child porn and videos of women bound and being raped. But if you think that is the top story in Michigan tonight, you would be wrong. Jeffrey Willis`s story pales in comparison to the tale of 69-year-old Arthur Ream. Ream is the man who tricked his son`s 13-year-old girlfriend into meeting him at a Dairy Queen, but then killed her and buried her body out in the woods. That happened back in 1986. And that child was Cindy Zarzycki. It would take almost two decades to convict him. And when they did, Ream was already serving a 15 year sentence for molesting a child, of course. And the only thing is, they let him out of prison, not for freedom. Instead, to lead detectives to Cindy`s grave site. And it is at that same grave site, in a private field, north of Detroit, where the FBI has now come in and is searching for between four to six other girls, other girls who went missing as teenagers at the same time Cindy did, back in the `70s and the `80s. Authorities think that Arthur Ream killed those girls too.</s>ANNIE GUNACA, WITNESS: I was the last person to see Kim alive before she disappeared, and I know that something horrible happened to her that night. She never, ever would have left her sisters and her grandmother worrying about her. Never in my mind did I ever believe that she ran away. Not for one second.</s>BANFIELD: And today, thanks to information from the suspect himself, along with some information from his fellow inmates, apparently he likes to talk with, the investigators have dug up something promising.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What have you found? Have you found anything on this land?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. But I`m not going to comment on what we found. But what we did found -- what we have found -- makes us very cautiously optimistic.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something has been found, but not remains? Is that what you were saying?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: True, yes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You found something to connect this land to the girls?</s>BANFIELD: Joining me now, CNN national correspondent, Ryan Young, also on the phone, Tim Kohler, he is the former attorney for Arthur Ream. Joseph Scott Morgan is with me as well. He is a certified death investigator, he is also a professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University. That will come in handy, considering the age of these corpses, if these corpses turn up, and defense attorney, Troy Slaten is with me as well. First to you, Ryan Young, and to the news that is breaking today of dozens of detectives out in a very lonely, overgrown field that is now more of a forest, searching acres and acres and acres for children who`ve been dead for years. Take me there and tell me what`s happening at this moment.</s>YOUNG: Ashleigh, when you think about this tough moments in Michigan, as family and friends stood by for a third day hoping that after nearly 40 years, they will find answers. This is FBI, multiple police agencies, continued to dig through the area. Of course, about 30 miles north of Detroit, they`re systematically searching for those six girls ranging in age from 12 to 16. Now, of course, Arthur Ream is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted of first degree murder in 2008 of 13-year-old Cindy Zarzycki, who disappeared in 1986. Now, at the news conference, investigators were talking about how Ream was bragging to other inmates, and now because of that they`ve been able to go back out to this site, they waited for the ground to thaw just a little bit, so they could go out there and start excavating the area, and maybe find some of these remains for these young girls, whose families obviously are torn up about this, finally years later, investigators get a chance to go out there. Now, look, back in 2008 he showed them where Cindy Zarzycki`s body was. This time he is not talking. He is not helping them find these other possible six females who disappeared.</s>BANFIELD: And doesn`t that, Ryan, always fascinates me. I don`t have to tell you. You`ve covered enough of these crimes to know, it is always fascinating when a prisoner gives up some goods. It`s usually for a deal. It is usually for something in your sentencing. For this guy, not a chance though. Murder is life, no matter how you slice it. But maybe the way your life is led behind bars, because the Michigan Department of Corrections, can do a thing or two to make your life a little better. Sometimes it`s your work detail, sometimes it is who you`re housed with, and sometimes it is even where you`re housed. And maybe that is the reason he gave up that detail. But Ryan, what`s so fascinating, is these others. I want to play, if I can, for our audience, the Warren Police Commissioner, Bill Dwyer who also said there were a few other things, not just what the killer said to them or said to other inmates, a few other things about the way he conducts himself and the crimes himself that led them there. Have a listen.</s>BILL DWYER, WARREN POLICE COMMISSIONER: We do have general probable cause to believe that this is a grave site, no question about it, that Kimberly King and other young female victims who were murdered are buried here. The suspect in this case also did brag about murdering four to six people to the inmates where he is being housed. He did -- was interviewed several times by detectives from the Warren Police Department. He did, in fact, flunk, fail a polygraph test. We suspect there were four to six girls that could be victims here. One victim was -- that we`re looking at that possibly could be here was the young girl that was last seen at the (inaudible) in the City of Canton. And it fits the profile. It fits, you know his M.O. And that is why they`re part of this. Because looking at the relationship between the first victims that was found here by the East Point Police Department, everything that happened with these other victims fits the profile of our suspect. No relationship between the other victims in this case, but the way they were picked up, how they were picked up, where they were at. It all gels together, I mean, hitchhiking, so on and so forth, shopping, going from point a to point b.</s>BANFIELD: Ryan, you might be interested, if you already know this, our viewers may not. Today is Mr. Ream`s birthday. So I`m sure he is celebrating a little differently than the rest of us celebrate. When you`re behind bars you don`t really get the fanciest cake in town. I am curious about one thing, Ryan, I don`t even know if the public has this information. But it is so strange that Cindy Zarzycki went missing in `86, 1986. He wasn`t convicted until almost, you know, two decades later, 2008. How did it take so long, and how did they ultimately get him on this crime?</s>YOUNG: Well, you know what`s interesting about this, prior to his conviction, Ream also served time for a child sex offense in 1975. And then again in 1998. It was when he was already in jail that you see him sitting down with an investigator. In fact, they have video of him talking to investigators where he is pretty open about where they could find this body. And then again like, I said, he drew a map and then eventually was taken out of prison to take them to the site. So you can only imagine that maybe they`re working that systematic area with those cadaver dogs that kind of work their way back. But this is because, he was bragging to those inmates. But again, he is not talking to investigators this time, not sure why after he is serving so much time anyway. And he feels comfortable bragging. In fact, one of the investigators said (inaudible) birthday.</s>BANFIELD: Like did he brag way back in `08. And that is why they got to the Cindy Zarzycki murder and got him, or did he brag now and that is why they`re going back to Cindy`s grave? It is like because he is bragging about more women being buried there. Is it a bunch of bragging, or is there something we don`t know?</s>YOUNG: Well, you know, that is what we would love to ask investigators about that point. Obviously some of it they weren`t sharing all the way with us today, but when he was detailing the four to six other women that he may have killed, that obviously ties together with the missing women in this area. You can obviously understand why this community is shaken by these facts and the fact that he was out for a little while. I mean, the first offense in 1975, and then getting convicted again in 1998, it gives you a pattern of time where he was available to do all these crimes.</s>BANFIELD: All these sex charges too, 1975, 1998. Just really -- one of the most sinister characters when you look at his background, and now what you know he is guilty of. You know, if you`re a victim of crime, and you`re watching tonight, I don`t need to explain this to you. But to people who have never been victims of crime, this stuff doesn`t go away. When you lose someone you love, say like your sister, it never leaves you. The decades can go by, but it never leaves you. And if you need any evidence of that, Kimberly King, who just might be one of the bodies they`re digging for in that field right now, her sister Konnie had this to say about the crime her family`s lived through.</s>KONNIE, VICTIM`S SISTER: It looks like it may bring a great deal of hope to a lot of families. So I think this is very important not just for us, but for many families.</s>BANFIELD: You know, a lot of those families will be waiting to find out if there is this kind of closure and then they will all say the same thing, closure is sort of an ephemeral thing. You can say its closure. There is no such thing as true closure for these families. If I can ask you a couple of questions, Tim Kohler, as Arthur Ream`s defense attorney, I know that you came out of the case as a quarter appointed attorney, you don`t get to choose your clients, when you are a quarter appointed attorney, but I do want to ask you as one of the only people who spent a lot of time with him, what was he like?</s>TIM KOHLER, FORMER ATTORNEY FOR ARTHUR REAM: Well, I didn`t spend a lot of time with him only because of the amount of discovery and the amount of preparation that I had to do. But the time that I spoke with him and was with him while he was in custody, and that was only a couple times in our preparation, because of the nature of the crime, murder, that was the single count, I knew that my defense would be reviewing facts and not so much what he was going to say, because I never anticipated him testifying. So to talk to him about it, I really didn`t do a lot. And sometimes it`s not important for me to talk to them, because I don`t want to learn what he sometimes knows, because it may affect my defense and my vigilant defense. So I didn`t spend a whole lot of time. Certainly the time that I did spend with him, he was a tough read in a sense. He really never displayed the kind of character that was really going on inside him. Sometimes his quietness, sometimes his refusal, and sometimes the way in which he answered questions of other people that I read and heard in my discovery reviews. It was a different sort of person. I think also that character trait that he had led to some of the dislike that probably rang throughout the court.</s>BANFIELD: Which character trait is that? Which character trait that did led to the dislike in the courtroom? As a jury, you know, that matters, whether you like that defendant or not, that can weigh on you when you`re choosing to take his life away from him. There`s no death penalty for him. But taking his freedom away for life, what kind of trait are you talking about?</s>KOHLER: I think he had kind of a sinister -- and that word has been given to me. It`s not a word that I chose. But it`s a word that has been described by those who were actively involved in the case at the time, whether that they were news reporters, officers, OIC, Mac, the detective that really did the foot work that led to his being brought into the court system and being charged with these offenses.</s>BANFIELD: Did you believe him, by the way? Can I ask you, Tim, did you believe him, when he said I`ll lead you to her body, but I -- and I was there when she died, but he didn`t cop to the killing. Did you believe that he didn`t kill her after all those admissions?</s>KOHLER: The jury said that he did. So that is important. Whether or not I believe it or not I don`t think is important, because I`m not hired to believe or disbelieve my client. I`m hired to represent him and make sure that he gets a fair and that justice is served and that his voice, whatever that may be, whether or not he actually speaks during the trial or not. Let me ask this. You asked about his -- whether or not I thought he was jumpy. In my conversations with him, I never asked him, I didn`t want to know, and he certainly never told me.</s>BANFIELD: And that makes sense. I have heard that. Listen, you`re a lawyer, you`ve got a job to do. But there`s another job that is coming. Joseph Scott Morgan, if they unearth between four to six bodies in that field, decades after they died, what can they determine in terms of critical evidence, for any kind of prosecution that may come down the pike? He is serving life, but that doesn`t mean there may not be a prosecution, it doesn`t mean they don`t at least hold that evidence. What are the chances they will get anything worthwhile, Joseph?</s>JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, PROFESSOR OF FORENSIC, JACKSONVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY: Well, it`s important to understand Ashleigh that these might not be the only cases this guy is involved with. What`s curious about this is how did he go about placing them in the ground? Are they comingled, that means layered in there on top of one another, are we dealing with multiple graves? That is one of the things that the investigators are looking at right now. It`s still possible to collect evidence out of here, as well as to determine what kinds of injuries these four girls may have sustained, particularly as it involves head injuries, things like gunshot wounds, blows to the head, this sort of thing.</s>BANFIELD: And, of course, the dental records could be critical in terms of identification and DNA et cetera. I`m going to have to leave it there. But that is not to say I`m done with this story. 45 minutes from now, a little less in fact for 45 minutes now, you are going to hear from the suspect himself. Because he spoke. He said a couple of things in an interrogation room that are absolutely jaw droopingly fascinating. I am going to play that just at the top of the hour. Make sure you come back at 7:00 for our second hour. In the meantime, for 17 years, a woman named Denise Williams had been portraying the part of grieving widow, whose husband seemed to have died in a tragic hunting accident. Maybe even having been eaten by Florida alligators. But yesterday, as you can probably guess by the mug shot, all that changed.