'Exhumed' Episode 2: Marilyn McIntyre's husband was suspected of killing her, but truth dug out 30 years later
There is that ineffable feeling that investigators experience when a cold case that's practically collecting dust in a corner of the office suddenly comes to light. And for Lt. Wayne Smith and Sgt. Daniel Garrigan, their description of the feeling as "excited" could almost be synonymous with sheer exhilaration when they found leads on a case that was three decades old. Oxygen's latest true-crime series examines the gruesome killing of Marilyn McIntyre. Titled 'Exhumed', each episode looks at a powerful and suspenseful exhumation that opens the door to shocking new breakthroughs, unexpected plot-twists, and ultimately, justice.
The second episode looks at the death of Marilyn McIntyre on March 11, 1980. The young mother with a newborn was found dead at her Columbus, Wisconsin residence. Medical examiner Angelica Hinze's recollection said Marilyn's body had marks of strangulation, evidence of traumatic sexual contact, lacerations, bad bruises, and a kitchen knife buried in her chest. While her husband Lane McIntyre was the initial suspect for a long period of time thanks to a string of unfortunate developments in the form of a life insurance policy in her name that he took just before she died, and a remarriage. He was eventually knocked off from the suspect list.
Now the world is aware of who her killer is. Curtis Forbes was a friend of the McIntyres. Along with his girlfriend, Debbie, the duo had a hang-out relationship with the McIntyres. All was well until one day Debbie and Curtis' relationship hit rough waters and Marilyn influenced Debbie to call off the relationship. Curtis exacted revenge in the goriest way possible and while justice was served quite late, the way it did piques interest.
When the exhuming paid off, but almost didn't at first
As the series suggests, exhuming played a key role in solving the case, but it wasn't simple. Her body was exhumed with hopes of extracting something from her DNA that could provide a lead to finding out the killer. Garrigan and Smith recall how the odds were against them when they exhumed the body in a condition that was practically of no help.
A ray of hope came in the form of the artificial press-on fingernails. The tips of the finger bones on the press-on nails were tested by the crime labs, and they turned up empty as there was nothing to show. But prior DNA tests got her husband Lane acquitted. All wasn't lost as the investigators kept an eye on Curtis, who after absconding during the time of her death, was now back in town and had married Debbie.
Debbie was interrogated by the police when they realized Curtis had made plans to fake his death and that was news for Smith and his team. It was also enough for them to bring in Curtis and question him. Technically, the exhumation had done more than just give initial hopes of solving the case, it made Curtis panicky and his moves soon after landed him in trouble.
This also led to Debbie dishing out a new detail to the investigators - blood splattered over Curtis's shirt on March 11, 1980, when he showed up at her house around 4 am. When asked, there was a frivolous reply and Debbie told the investigators her mother had cleaned his bloody shirt the very same day. After his arrest, there was a call between Debbie and Curtis where the latter denied answering her question of where the bloody shirt came from. This was enough for Curtis to be charged with first-degree murder for which he was sentenced to life.
'Exhumed' premieres January 17, 7 pm ET on Oxygen with two back-to-back episodes.