031 - The Murder of Joel Lovelien

Trace Evidence

Steven Pacheco

History, True Crime, Society & Culture, Documentary

4.7 • 4.3K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2018

⏱️ 55 minutes

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Summary

Joel Lovelien took his fiancee to a Halloween party at the Broken Drum bar and grill in Grand Forks, North Dakota on Saturday, October 27th, 2007. The party was big, and a bus pulled up pouring out 40 to 50 twenty-somethings making it even busier. Joel took a call outside, and when he returned, explained to his fiancee that he was going to check on someone he saw outside who may have been left behind. Moments later, a woman came in screaming to call 911 and Joel's fiancee made the grisly discovery of Joel's beaten body.

He was rushed to the hospital, but died as a result of his wounds. The investigation began, but it contained a sordid cast of characters like you'd find in a bad comic book. Identities were unknown, but Police were looking for men dressed as a cowboy, hunter, lion, construction worker, gangsta rapper and a clown. When all was said and done, the Lion - a man named Travis Stay was arrested and tried for the murder, but ultimately, was found not guilty.

While many believe Stay was the perpetrator, others feel that some of the other men from the party bus may have actually committed the crime in a drunken rage. Join host Steven Pacheco as he attempts to maneuver through this confusing case in an attempt to answer the question: Who murdered Joel Lovelien?

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
"Echoes of Time v2" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
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Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/joel-lovelien

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Joe Lovlin was a gentle giant. Standing six foot four and weighing approximately 250 pounds,
0:15.6	he was a tower of a man who was secretly a teddy bear that loved to have fun. In October of 2007,
0:23.7	he took his new fiancé Heather Eastling out to a Halloween party at a local bar called the
0:29.6	Broken Drum. Heather dressed as a cute mechanic while Joel wore the bright green hockey jersey of
0:36.2	his favorite team, the University of North Dakota fighting Sue. It was going to be a night of fun,
0:43.1	and the next day, Joel would be attending the confirmation of his daughter Alexa, whom he adored.
0:50.0	The night was going well, with hands of Blackjack, a few drinks, and maybe even a few tugs on a
0:56.3	cigar. Joel and Heather were enjoying each other's company, discussing future events, such as
1:02.6	their wedding, which was scheduled to take place on August 8th, 2008. The crowd was a little thicker
1:09.1	than usual, with it being a Halloween party, and the arrival of a party bus which had poured out
1:14.8	40 to 50-20 somethings who were touring from bar to bar that night. Late in the evening,
1:21.6	Joel's cell phone rang, and he told Heather that he was going to step outside and take the call.
1:26.5	It was a little noisy in the bar. While out there, he noticed a man who seemed a little lost,
1:33.0	and he came back in to tell Heather that he thought the guy might have been left behind,
1:37.0	and he was going to check on it. Joel kissed Heather on the cheek and walked out of the bar,
1:42.7	but he would never walk back in. Moments later, a woman came running in screaming for someone to
1:49.1	call 911. Heather grabbed a bouncer to help her find Joel and to figure out what was going on
1:55.9	outside when she made a grisly discovery. Joel was laying on the pavement, his blood was everywhere,
2:03.3	and he had been violently and viciously beaten nearly beyond recognition. An ambulance arrived
2:09.6	in Usher, Joel to the hospital, but it was too late, and Joel was gone. Police came into a chaotic
2:16.6	scene of costume individuals who were excessively drunk and had the difficult task of trying to get
2:22.2	statements from intoxicated people, and also faced the problem that the party bus was gone.
	...

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