Hi, Park enthusiasts. I'm your host, Dilya DeAmbra. The story I'm going to share with you

today is a wild one. It's not about one murder or even two murders. It's about a man

who planned multiple murders in his quest for power and money. His attempt to seize the

beauty of the American Northwest for his own gain left a blood trail from Washington

State to North Dakota that baffled local state and federal authorities. The crimes I'll

cover in this episode all revolve around one main suspect and don't actually take place

within the boundary of a national park. But the remains of at least one victim in this

story are believed to reside very close to, if not directly on federal parkland. The northern

boundary of Theodore Roosevelt National Park to be exact. This area of the United States

is rugged and according to the National Park Service includes some grassland and rock

formation landscapes that are known as the badlands. Back in 1883, Teddy Roosevelt came

to this area in North Dakota to hunt bison and big game. The adventures he had in this

environment helped him grow an appreciation for nature and realize how important the

conservation of federal land is. Thus the reason the park was named after him. But

North Dakota is not one of those states you typically think about when you're reciting

all 50 states. It might even be one that you forgot about on that geography test in grade

school. But for those of you who spent any amount of time there, you know it's special.

One of the things I think makes it so unique is that it's home to five federally recognized

tribal nations and their respective reservation land. According to the website for the state's

Department of Indian Affairs and total there are 31,329 indigenous Americans living in North

Dakota. Because the literal ground these nations control is so rich in resources that leads

to big politics and big greed colliding in a really nasty way. In 2012, a saga of events

...