Dateline: 5 harrowing details about Susan Casey's homicide, revisited

Dateline reopened the case of the murder of Susan Casey, which began in April of 2008 in Glendive, Montana. Susan Casey, better known as Susie, a 34-year-old mother of four, vanished after she was dropped off one early morning at her apartment.

Her disappearance was so sudden that a community search led to the discovery of evidence of stalking, harassment, and threatening actions of her ex-husband, Walter Martin “Marty” Larson Jr., and an autopsy confirmed that she was strangled to death in the Yellowstone River.

It was found in the investigation of the murder of Susan Casey that there was a pattern of violence and online invasion by Larson, who even spied on her by surveilling her house and intercepting her communications. This evidence was used in the trial, and the prosecutors proved him guilty of deliberate homicide and other related charges.

Larson received a sentence of 100 years in prison, and his case has been reviewed by Dateline since then, both as a personal tragedy and as a case study of the hazards of intimate partner violence, especially in rural settings.

The following are 5 harrowing details of Susan Casey's murder, re-examined by Dateline.

1. The vanishing of Susan Casey

As shown, on Dateline, the last sight of Susan Casey was on 12 April 2008, as her boyfriend, Brad Holzer, took her out of her apartment in the early morning. It was a decisive moment in the life of the murder of Susan Casey because Holzer was the last person to be with her. At the beginning of the investigation, Holzer was put under a spotlight, but it was later cleared that he was not the culprit since no evidence could implicate him in the crime.

In the morning, the police force detectives discovered drag marks and prints outside Casey's apartment building, which meant that there was a struggle. There were also surveillance tapes that showed the car of Larson in the area. These discoveries were starting to forge an explicit relationship between the behavior of Larson and the disappearance of Casey.

2. Harassment and threat patterns

According to Dateline, the behaviors of Larson before the murder were the key points in the murder investigation of Susan Casey. He made threats, harassment, and phone stalking repeatedly. Court documents and testimony also proved that he had stolen the email and telephone accounts of Susan to attempt to intercept communications.

The background of Larson was not clear, and he had numerous arrests and restraining orders due to his violence. Witnesses had also gone on record that he had always been antagonistic towards the new relationship Susan had with Holzer. This would later be applied to motive and premeditation.

3. The suspicious nature of Larson after the crime

Following the murder of Susan Casey, the police learnt that Larson behaved suspiciously. This also was not the case with what had been said by the police surveillance camera because the camera placed his vehicle outside the apartment building when Susan went missing. Footprints and drag marks that were found outside the house by the police further enhanced the theory of a real struggle.

Further distrust was created when Larson was spotted cleaning his vehicle meticulously some time after Casey had disappeared. This was in addition to his previous stalking and threatening letters, making the case against him even stronger. These facts would later be used by the prosecutors to demonstrate premeditation and destruction of evidence intent.

4. Body and cause of death were found.

As per Dateline, after weeks of the hunt, Susan Casey was found in the Yellowstone River near Fallon, Montana, 30 miles north of Glendive. The bad news sealed the case and proved the fact that Susan had fallen victim to a crime.

An autopsy proved that the cause of death was technical, i.e., due to strangulation. This supported the evidence of the physical scene and was consistent with the violent struggle hypothesis. Corpse disposal of Susan was the moment of turning point in the evidence to be used as a trial.

5. Walter Martin Larson Jr.'s trial and sentence.

After the investigation, Walter Martin, also known as Marty, Larson Jr., was arrested and accused of intentional homicide after having killed Susan Casey. The prosecutors at trial demonstrated a timeline based on surveillance video, witnesses, and threats Larson had sent.

Larson was guilty at the trial and sentenced to 100 years in prison with the opportunity of parole in 30 years. The subsequent appeals of Larson were denied by the courts, which automatically affirmed the conviction and penalty. The finding reinstated the fact that the trial had been founded on good evidence.

Broader implications of the case.

The judicial after-effect of the murder of Susan Casey recreated not only the Larson prosecution but also the growing knowledge of rural domestic violence processes. Dateline's confirmation of the case by an analyst and activists to verify the case of Susan was a paradigm of how stalking, harassment, and control may cause violence and a lethal turn when not handled properly.

Case lessons are still behind prevention, police response, and education work on intimate partner violence in communities.

In a nutshell, the murder of Susan Casey, covered by Dateline, was an illogical crime that was enhanced by personal history, hacking into the computer, and the use of intimidation. Since she was last seen alive, which was on April 12, 2008, to the final retrieval of her remains in the Yellowstone River, all measures were taken to construct the case against her ex-husband, Walter Martin "Marty" Larson Jr.

The guilty verdict, the sentence, and the Dateline special helped to provide the character of the homicide and the context of the rural American domestic violence in bold relief. Lastly, the murder of Susan Casey is a domestic tragedy and a case study, which offers communities a wake-up call as to how vital vigilance, support systems, and early intervention are to harassment and abuse cases.