Josh Mankiewicz and Blayne Alexander sit down to talk about Blayne’s episode, “Deadly Entanglement.” In 2013, Desiree Sunford was found brutally murdered in her Yakima County, Washington, home. While authorities initially focused on the behavior of Desiree’s husband, a deeper dive into the couple’s relationship revealed a complicated connection to another woman and then to another man. Blayne and Josh discuss the tangled web that eventually led investigators to a suspect, as well as Blayne’s exclusive interview with the woman at the center of the story. And Blayne shares a podcast-exclusive clip in which the woman describes her relationship with the killer and her fears if he were to be set free. Plus, Dateline producer Susan Leibowitz joins Josh to answer viewer and listener questions from social media.Have a question for Talking Dateline? Leave it for us in a DM on social media @DatelineNBC or in a voicemail at (212) 413-5252 for a chance to be featured on a future episode!Listen to the full episode of "Deadly Entanglement" on Apple: https://apple.co/3FG3XaHListen to the full episode on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4VB0K1OU3xF3DMZS26tzri
Chapter 1: What is the 'Deadly Entanglement' episode about?
Hi, everybody. I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and we are talking Dateline today with Blayne Alexander. Hi, Blayne. Hello, hello. So this episode is called Deadly Entanglement. It's about the 2013 murder of a woman named Desiree Sunford in her home in Yakima County, Washington, and the very, very complicated relationship that ultimately led to her murder. Thank you so much.
is watching the episode in addition to listening to the podcast and then listening to Talking Dateline. And if you don't have any time for the other things in your life, like your family, that's your problem. So go there, listen to it, and then come back here.
Now, when we come back, Blaine has an extra clip that she's going to play for us with her interview with the woman who's absolutely at the center of this page, Blades. Later, I'm going to be joined by Dateline producer Susan Leibowitz. who will help answer some of your questions about the broadcast from social media. So stick around for that. And now let's talk Dateline.
All right, so one of the great things about this story is that from the get-go, you're like, all right, well, it's pretty clearly the husband, right? I mean, that guy's a liar. He's acting like out of a textbook, like how to make the police suspicious of you right after something is happening. I don't want to go in the house, but I want the cops to find the body, right?
I don't want to be in there. And then it turns out there's a whole other subterranean thing beneath the surface.
You know, we kind of commented at some point that viewers will need literally a notepad to write down all of the people and how they're related and arrows and kind of like a playbook, right? Because once we get into this and once we really start diving into this marriage and then there is another woman and then there's another man and how are all these people connected?
It takes a lot to kind of pull together this very convoluted motive. But yes, from the very beginning, investigators looked at Scott and said, what in the world is up with this guy? I mean, this man was somebody who is military trained. He's a tall gentleman. He was carrying a firearm at the time. Not only is he proficient in firearm use, but he had a gun on him.
And they're wondering why not go into the house. And, you know, when I spoke with Detective Johnson and a number of people were saying, listen, if I thought that there was something wrong with somebody that I cared about in the house, there's not a force on earth that would stop me from going inside.
Particularly if I were armed, you know?
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Chapter 2: Why was Desiree Sunford's husband suspected?
It was stated in the beginning that they had actually found unknown DNA that did not match any of the suspects. Was this followed up on at all? Does law enforcement have any theories as to where this unknown male DNA came from?
They have no idea whose DNA it is, and they have no plans at this point to follow up on it. She didn't go out that Saturday. On Friday... She was with her friend Michelle, who was in our episode. They were running around trying to find a place where she could find a printer because she had to print out documents for insurance because they'd been broken into. So she was running around on Friday.
Maybe she somehow picked up some male DNA. The cops at this point, we asked them about that, and they have no plans to follow up on that DNA as of now.
Next question is from Latasha McClellan.
Hi, Blaine. I am wondering, how did Desiree's family feel about the Alfred plea being taken?
No one who knew and loved Desiree was happy about the Alfred plea. The family was not happy, but they felt they had no choice.
It's very rare that Alford pleas are taken and frequently like no one's happy with the Alford plea. Right. Lynn Wallace from Facebook says, did Marty mention anything about Paige putting him up to the murder of Desiree? I'm wondering why he wouldn't dime her out if she put him up to this. Also, did Scott go to any part of Marty's trial?
Okay, answering the second part first, there was no trial. There was just that sentencing hearing, and Scott is sitting in the back with his dad. I looked at the footage, and there he was sitting in the back. So he definitely was at the sentencing hearing. He did not speak like her mom and aunt and other relatives. Marty never said Paige put him up to this.
I mean, if he had, this case would have gone in a different direction.
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