The dog trainer, the heiress and the bodyguard

On Oct. 28, 2009, at 2:30 a.m., Michiel Oakes is captured on Linda Opdycke's security cameras leaving her home. His destination: Mark Stover's house.

"It was put up or shut up time," says Oakes.

He says Stover was obsessed with those wedding photos.

"I was supposed to deliver them to him or else..." he tells Peter Van Sant.

"And the 'else' was?"

"My children were frequently mentioned as the 'else,'" he replies,

Oakes didn't have the photos, but he went anyway - thinking he could reason with Stover. Just in case, he says he went prepared for the worst.

"I was always armed in every meeting with Mark Stover," he explains. "I had worn my Kevlar vest to every one of those because he was getting progressively less patient with me."

Oakes says he parked down the road and walked to Stover's house. Once inside, Oakes says Stover left him alone. Moments later, he returned with a gun.

"He caught me totally by surprise and shot me in the vest and he was not wearing Kevlar and he was shot," he says.

Asked what gun Mark Stover was killed with, Oakes tells Van Sant, "His own gun."

"So what are you telling me? You shot Mark Stover in self-defense?"

"Absolutely," says Oakes.

Oakes says the next thing he knew, he was outside and staring into the ferocious face of Stover's guard dog, Ding.

"The dog came at me and I had to shoot the dog," he explains.

Soon after, employee Stephanie Poor arrives for work. She sees a man at the top of the driveway.

"I saw who I thought was Mark going into the house, coming out of the house putting stuff in the back of the hatch," she says.

"What made you think it was Mark?" asks Van Sant.

"Because it was his hat and his jacket and why wouldn't I think it was Mark?" she replies.

Having put on Stover's trademark hat and coat, Oakes loads the dead body into the back of Stover's station wagon and tears off.

"It was the worst moment of my life. I wanted him to be alive still," Oakes says. "...I would never harm anybody for any reason except to defend my family, myself."

But Lead Detective Dan Luvera isn't buying it. He says he doesn't believe that Mark Stover threatened Michiel Oakes' children.

"No, not at all," he tells Van Sant. "I don't think it happened..."

In fact, Det. Luvera doesn't believe any of Oakes' story.

"I believe Michiel Oakes went to Mark Stover's house that day with a mission... and that mission was to kill him," he says.

After fleeing, Oakes drives Stover's station wagon to a parking lot. A woman calls police.

911 Call: There's two vehicles facing back to back...looks like somebody's transferring something back and forth.

Was it the body? If it was self-defense, asks Luvera, why did Oakes move it? Why didn't he call police? And why did he drive to meet Jennifer Thompson - his second wife who he divorced in 2009 - just hours after the shooting and tell her this disturbing story?

"The tension was so thick, the unspoken was so loud," Thompson tells Van Sant. "He was

noticeably agitated and not OK."

They went for a walk down by the water's edge.

"I said, 'Are you OK?' And he said, 'No. I think I'm in trouble,'" Thompson says. "Michiel told me if the police saw what was in the back of his car he'd go to prison for life."

Thompson says Oakes then implied that whatever he'd done, he'd been hired to do it.

"Michiel told me that it was a job gone bad," she says.

Now Thompson believes he was talking about a murder for hire.

"I believe Michiel Oakes is the hitman," she says. "He took on a job to go take someone out..."

Thompson believes that Michiel Oakes had long been a killer in waiting based on his unusual philosophy.

"He felt there were evil bad people who needed to be removed, taken away... taken out," she tells Van Sant. "Not everyone was capable of taking those people out. He prided himself on being one of them."

"Your ex-wife claims ... you describe what had happened earlier in the day as a job gone bad. A job implies you were hired by someone," Van Sant remarks to Oakes.

"Yeah, well, I think she has an interesting approach creatively speaking," Oakes says. "I believe my exact words were I had a meeting... something went dreadfully wrong and I will be blamed for it..."

He got that right. Oakes was arrested and charged with the murder of Mark Stover. But investigators weren't so sure he acted alone.

"Did you want to talk to Linda Opdycke?" Van Sant asks the detective.

"Oh, most definitely," says Luvera.

"Did she agree to speak with you?"

"No, she did not."

Linda Opdycke briefly spoke to police the night Oakes was arrested. The next day, on her attorney's advice, she refused to answer any more questions. Michiel Oakes was freed on bail, but the lovers were forbidden by court order to see each other or communicate.

"I think Linda Opdycke knows more than what she's telling," says Det. Luvera.

For example, how did Michiel Oakes know to put on Mark Stover's trademark hat and coat the morning of the murder? "Linda, it all comes back to Linda," says Luvera.

"Investigators believe that you must have given Michiel details of Mark Stover's life - what hat he wore during the day, what car he drove," Van Sant points out to Linda.

"That's simply not true," she replies.

"The implication that Michiel was hired by someone to go over and kill Mark Stover," Van Sant continues. "Was it you?"

"No. Absolutely not," she replies.

But Mark Stover's niece, Julia Simmons, believes Oakes was played by a master manipulator.

"I'm sure Linda just had him wrapped so around her little finger, she coulda gotten him to do anything," she says.

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[verdictwatch]

Have watched almost all these 48 hour mystery episodes and this one just broke my heart. I so liked Mark Stover's sister - one day your wish will come true when this little man turns on her.

[mammalia1]

One question.... Where's the ******* weights Michiel Oakes???

[Harden_Tar]

They guy in prison was a tool, plain and simple. Why didn't they go to the cops? If all these meetings happened, they could have recorded the threats easily and the trainer would have gone to jail. they didn't because none of it is true. The babe wanted her ex dead and the tool obliged.

[USCMD]

Michiel Oakes is a first class chump. I'm a fairly world wise 64 y/o, and the dynamic of poor beset upon damsel in distress, turning to new boyfriend for protection, from the mean, crazed old beau is as old as the hills. I believe Linda Opdycke should have been tried as conspirator, (before, after or both) because its absolutely ludicrous to imagine the dupe committing the crime, were she not in the picture.

You could take it one step further and imagine the dupes weapons/violence experience as a real factor in why a tall rich beauty picks, the broke stay at home dad half a foot shorter then her. He was a tool, in the concrete sense. I'll bet you a buck, (dollar, not a deer) that the dupe called the victim, and arranged a meeting at the victims home, under the pretense of having found the wedding pictures the victim wanted so badly, and that the meeting had to be early, because he was leaving the area for an extended vacation. "Now or never," kind of deal.

Isn't it amazing how people newly in love, see a rosier than fiction image, whose inaccuracy is only exceeded by the post relationship venom. In reality people aren't as good, before the breakup, or nearly as bad as they are portrayed after the breakup.

Want a good laugh? Do you think Linda will be waiting for the dupe, when he gets out of prison? What do you think karma has in store for Linda? Cancer? Violent disfiguring car crash? A rape, assault that results in her burial near Mark? I never wish harm on anyone, but if I did, she'd be near the top of my list. Lastly, with what she spent on the 20 weapons, security system etc. Linda, why not simply move away, until the vitriol cooled.

Very sad story, but only for the children. The adults made bad choices, and now must pay the consequences.

[USCMD]

One last thought, the dupe will not do well in prison. His sentence is going to seem like an eternity and serve as a real eye opener. Without weapons, his petite, lithe frame ought to insure him a full dance card, just about every night. And Mi-chel, consider changing your name to Mack or Bubba. I mentioned karma above, and however rough your time is, every minute will be well deserved. Pucker up, big boy.

[silveradocool]

I can't believe this guy Michael is that stupid to allow himself to be manipulated by that woman Linda - all this is because of her plain and simple shows he wasn't wise in the ways of the World especially about women. Why the police never charged her is insane - what a dummy this Michael guy.

[efh123]

I have a high regard for Judge Reichardt and thought that his interview with Peter Van Sant and the remarks he made on the bench were spot on. I agree with him that it was especially cruel of Michiel to not divulge where he put Mark's body. It's hard to believe that at one time Michiel had trained SWAT personnel. I would think that someone with his background would use his law enforcement contacts to find out what could be done legally to stop Mark Stover from threatening him, his children and Linda (if in fact Mark ever threatened Michiel and his kids). That Michiel ever thought sane people would buy his story is pretty remarkable.

[JamesBrownNJj]

He didn't train one single person!..Last I checked, SWAT team members were trained by their own superiors...OTHER SWAT Teamers..!..I am sure this figit wasn't allowed within 50 feet from training officers in the line of duty...Child Please...Chronic liar..If he was so highly regarded in law enforcement, You would think at least ONE former student would come to his defense..!

[katcholoe]

I agree, this little chump Michael fell for a woman who had big bucks and he would do anything to please her, she should have been somehow charged but obviously family money talks!
Karma Linda Karma~

[mmanuel65]

It's interesting to note that Oakes made comments about Stover supposedly threatening his children and being able to "describe what they were wearing", but nobody else heard these threats. It sounds like such BS. And why didn't he call the police then and tell them he was afraid for the safety of his kids? You stay away from them. If it's self defense, you don't GO TO THE HOUSE OF THE PERSON YOU CLAIM IS A THREAT TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AT THE CRACK OF DAWN to interact with that person. It doesn't matter how many threats he allegedly made, the last thing I would think anyone would want to do would be to have an encounter with someone they claim they were threatened by on their own turf with no one else around unless you planned to do exactly as Oakes did. He sounds like he's one big ego who wanted to show off how badass he thinks he is. From the story, it seems Mr. Stover was moving on with his life and they just couldn't let it go. I agree with lmc599....Karma!

[Wildwood1966]

what men will do for women (and vice versa) always amazes me - here is a man that takes on teh responsibility of raisng four children who love and respect him and think he hung the moon - along comes Linda and and he is willing to give this all up to kill a stranger? If it were traully self defense he would have called the police and lef the body exactly where it was - PLUS only cowards shoot dogs

[baxterbarney]

The cowardly pip squeak ''Mutt'' murdered the dog trainer but the prime mover had to be that '' Jeff'' !

[dognos]

I have now seen both segments of the Dog Trainer series as well as the coverage a month or so ago on another network. Both were well done with slightly different slants on some issues. I appreciate what CBS did in reporting theirs. They did however bring to light a question that was never broached nor answered. In Part One, they stated that Linda Opdycke moved to Winthrop to get away from Mark Stover but it was not made as public knowledge as to where she was living. How did he find out if not for her baiting him with information somehow. I agree with IMC599 on many of the statements about her harrasing him and the vague answers given when the questions were asked concerning this. I do hope that Mark's family will be able to get more information to hopefully ease their minds and hearts. If Mark is indeed in the waters, it will be less than likely he will ever be found sadly enough. I know because I live here in Skagit County where this all took place. Thank you CBS for a job well done.