In Machesney Park, Illinois just outside of Chicago, a worried Todd Smith calls 911 to report that he’s been unable to get in touch with his wife, Katrina, and he’s afraid that something has happened to her.
The community launches an aggressive search for the missing young wife and they surrounds the distraught Todd with love and support.
However, as police dig into the perfect marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, they quickly realize they have every reason in the world to suspect foul play.
Listen to the episode HERE.
Photo caption: Machesney Park, Ill, located 90 miles west of Chicago, was considered an idyllic community - the last place you'd expect a violent crime to be committed (credit: Homes.com); Todd and Katrina met in 2002, just a few years after she graduated from high school. Todd was 15 years older and already had a divorce and three daughters (credit: ABC News), Katrina Smith was known to be a happy girl who put others first (credit: ABC News); Todd and Katrina got married in 2005 and by all accounts, were blissfully in love (credit: IMDB); Katrina's siblings, Chad Kaltved and Miraynda Salinas liked Todd right away (credit: Rockford Register Star); Katrina's car, a blue Chevy Cruze, was found by the Rock River, mere hours after she disappeared.
Transcript:
Bianca Sloane (00:06)
In Machesney Park, Illinois, just outside of Chicago, a worried Todd Smith calls 911 to report that he's been unable to get in touch with his wife Katrina, and he's afraid that something has happened to her.
The community launches an aggressive search for the missing young wife, and they surround the distraught Todd with love and support.
However, as police dig into the perfect marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, they quickly realize that they have every reason in the world to suspect foul play.
Hello and welcome to the Dark Side of Love. am your host, Bianca Sloan, author of suspense novels about the dark side of love. And this week I'm putting a spotlight on the case I'm calling, Love Me
Katrina Ashley Edlund was born on July 16th, 1982 in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, the second child and first daughter of Vicky Nalata.
The young family eventually made their way to Machesney Park, Illinois, which is near Rockford, about 90 miles west of Chicago. Described in A Time to Kill as a quaint bedroom community, Machesney Park is the type of town where you could leave your doors unlocked because crime just wasn't something to worry about.
As Vince Lindberg, retired detective for the Winnebago County Sheriff's Department noted in A Time to Kill, “Crimes of violence in the Chesney Park, that doesn't happen every day.”
In other words, it's the perfect place to raise a family.
Katrina was close with older brother Chad and little sister Miranda. And according to what mom Vicki told 2020, Katrina was “A happy girl.” Brother Chad told the program that his sister “Went out of her way to put other people first.”
Katrina attended Harlem High School in Machesney Park where she was on the yearbook staff and was described to 2020 by her yearbook advisor teacher, Renee Pallana as “Smart. She was really driven. She was very mature for her age.”
After graduating from Harlem High in 2000, Katrina attended Rock Valley College. And in 2002, just a few years out of high school, Katrina is out one night with friends having fun when she crosses paths with a guy by the name of Todd Smith. He's playing DJ at one of the bars where Katrina and her friends are hanging out and there is an immediate spark. And in the blink of an eye, things turn serious between the two.
So Todd, is 15 years older than Katrina. He's divorced and he has three daughters. Now, while this may have deterred other girls her age, Katrina takes it all in stride.
In fact, nobody has anything bad to say about Todd with Katrina's sister Miranda telling 2020 that Todd, “Just fit in with our family pretty quickly.” And her brother Chad echoed this saying, “I thought he was a great guy. He was a cool dude that I enjoyed hanging out with.”
Katrina, Todd, and his three daughters move in together and by all accounts, the transition was seamless. With Brenda Paulson, a school classmate of Todd's telling 2020 that Katrina was a great stepmom and that, “The girls really adored Katrina.”
Todd's daughter Paige told the program that her dad liked being one big happy family saying, “I think he liked having a whole family unit versus being a single dad.”
Finally, in 2005, the couple made it official and tied the knot. To friends and family, Todd and Katrina had a solid and blissful union, with her brother Chad telling 20-20, “There was never a doubt that Katrina was happily married to Todd.”
The couple settled into married life and the family faithfully attended Heartland Community Church every Sunday. Katrina also worked with children through the launch ministries and she reveled in planning family gatherings and gardening. And she was also a diehard fan of the Chicago Bears. On the career front, Katrina and Todd ran a successful insurance business together out of the family home.
So, to the outside person looking in, the Smith family seemed to be the quintessential picture-perfect American postcard.
October 2012.
Todd makes a frantic 911 call telling the dispatcher, “I'm concerned because I haven't been able to reach my wife.”
He goes on to say that the last time he'd seen Katrina was the night before and she's not answering her phone. So of course he's worried. By now, Katrina and Todd are no longer working together as she's gotten a job in the HR department of local company Cameron Industries.
She hasn't shown up for work that morning, which is highly unusual for this model employee.
So, Todd told investigators that Katrina was condo sitting for a friend, but that she'd come home the night before to do her laundry ahead of a job interview that she had scheduled for the next day. And that while she was at the house, she's watching the Bears game because remember she's a rabid fan. And then at the last minute, as in 9 p.m. on a Monday night, she decided to go shopping for new outfit for her job interview the next day.
If you could see my face right now, it's saying, wait now, what?
Cops search the condo where Katrina was staying and there's no sign that she'd slept there or been there at all. Then, because small towns, it only takes about two hours after Todd's 911 call for Katrina's car and blue Chevy Cruze to be discovered parts near the Rock River.
It's a strange place to leave the car and if there are any stores out there for this shopping excursion at nine o'clock on a Monday night, but it's weird enough that it causes cops to spring into action because clearly something is going on.
So, while Machesney Park is considered the classic American small town, its neighbor, the city of Rockford, doesn't necessarily have that same reputation.
Considered to be primarily a blue-collar city, it is also a hub for violent crime. As Detective John Berg, who was a retired police detective at the Winnebago County Sheriff's Police Department told 2020, “For cities that have less than 200,000 people, the city of Rockford always ranks in the top three for the most violent cities in the entire country.”
Given this, cops have to wonder if Rockford's crime has spilled over into Machesney Park and onto Katrina Smith.
Police questioned Todd about Katrina and their marriage, and he paints the picture of an enchanted union and the perfect life. So much so, the couple who had just celebrated their seven-year wedding anniversary were talking about expanding their family through adoption. According to Todd, there is no infidelity, no heavy drinking, no gambling, no drugs, no problems whatsoever.
Cops want to know what Todd was doing the night before Katrina disappeared, and he says that he texted his wife good luck on her job interview, ending the message with, sweet dreams, good night. And that he had also sent some emails from his computer, and a search of his computer verifies his story, so Todd's alibi is solid.
Now, a bizarre possibility about what might have happened to Katrina comes to light when Todd reveals that years earlier, the couple had a peeping Tom. It was a kid from their neighborhood, someone who attended their church. And while we don't typically think of peeping Toms as murderers, the truth is it happens. They do escalate to homicide. In this particular case, the night of Katrina's disappearance, the kid was on his college campus hours away. So, he too is off the hook.
Against the backdrop of the investigation, the community comes together to launch a massive search for Katrina. Strangers, friends, family members, they searched the area where her car was found for any clues that might lead them to Katrina. Detective John Berg noted to 20-20, “The community started rallying around him, meaning Todd, and it gave a lot of pressure on us at the sheriff's department to find her and get the answers.”
However, breadcrumbs keep appearing that point to something sinister having happened to Katrina. Her purse turns up about 150 yards from where her car was found. The following day, her cell phone was found tucked into a bush on the side of the road. And the day after that, blood-soaked paper towels in a field a little south of where the car was found.
At this point, it is clear Katrina is not coming home safe and sound. Or as retired detective Vince Lindbergh aptly noted in A Time to Kill, “Something suspicious, something foul, had happened to Katrina.”
Determined to find out exactly what had happened to her, investigators turn their attention to Katrina's work life and uncover yet another cuckoo clock occurrence in her background because Peeping Tom wasn't enough.
And it turns out that a few weeks earlier, a mysterious dark car went barreling through the parking lot of Cameron Industries where Katrina worked, throwing stacks of flyers through the car window littering the parking lot. And according to the flyers, Mrs. Smith is having an affair with a coworker.
The gentleman in question is a recently divorced man by the name of Guy Gabriel.
A search of Katrina's cell phone reveals that this is not idle gossip, but that Guy and Katrina are indeed banging the gong.
Police obtained surveillance footage of this car, but there aren't any plates on it. The driver is disguised, so there is no way to tell who this mystery person is.
So as I mentioned, Guy, he's recently divorced, so that of course has to be a consideration because maybe it's someone in his life that's doing this. However, Todd has told the cops that he and Katrina are two happy clams. So either Todd really believes this and has no idea that his wife is having an affair or he's lying.
Guess which one I think it is.
As cops dig into Guy's past, they learned that he was charged with aggravated battery back in 1989 during a bar fight. However, he was eventually cleared.
Cops, of course, want to know about his alibi on the night that Katrina disappeared. And he says that he came over to the condo where she was house sitting on Sunday night, spent the night, and that Monday morning she went to work. He went to work Monday night because he worked the night shift and he cops to psycho-texting. My words, not his. Because she was supposed to tell Todd on Monday night that she wanted a divorce.
Plot twist. Remember what I said before about Todd lying? Yes. Well, Todd was well aware that Katrina wanted a divorce. And in fact, she had even made an appointment with a divorce attorney.
Well, now cops have to turn their attention back to Mr. Smith to find out what else he might be lying about. And there is so much that Todd is lying about. As Detective John Burke tells 20-20, quote, “We have to wonder why is Todd not being straight with us?”
Before we get into that, and believe me, the tea on that is piping hot.
Todd is raising suspicions with members of the community who had been out searching for Katrina. As the Rockford Register Star reported, local residents Victoria Lurk and Judy LaSala came out to participate in the search even though they had no connection to the Smiths.
However, Todd wound up in their group and they grew “Frustrated with how he was acting.” The paper noted that he showed little interest. He spent most of the time that they were walking, messing with his phone, brushing grass and dirt off his clothes, instead of looking for Katrina or evidence related to her disappearance. Judy Lasala said, “It was like he was trying to get rid of us.”
What Todd was most interested in, it seemed, were the media interviews that he was giving.
To the naked eye, Todd appeared in these interviews to be utterly distraught about his missing wife. However, if you looked more closely, it was all an act.
Whitney Martin, former news anchor with WFIR TV in Rockford, said to 20-20, “I felt like when I was interviewing Todd that he was putting on a show more than he was answering questions to find his wife. I didn't see a single tear.”
Winnebago County State's attorney Marilyn Ross had the same observation, astutely noting in A Time to Kill that Todd was, “Crying with no tears, emotion without emotion. And we're seeing this play out before the cameras.”
Meanwhile, investigators go over Katrina's car with a fine-tooth comb, including spraying luminal on the interior and exterior, which will show if there is any blood in the vehicle. Well, there is a lot of blood. It's on the seat, steering wheel, the bumper, and in the trunk, they find the outline of a body.
So, it seems pretty obvious that this is Katrina's blood.
Investigators also find a card, like a greeting card, from Todd to Katrina in the car. And at first glance, it seems like maybe it's a love letter, know, something sweet, something nice.
But it is actually a lot more sinister, with Todd writing to Katrina among other things, “I'm scared to death that you are going to start talking to someone who will take advantage of the situation and that feelings will develop to confuse the situation more.”
Investigators learned that Katrina was not condo sitting for a friend, that in fact she had moved out of the house. Also, they learned that Katrina is the breadwinner in the family. She pays the bills, she pays the mortgage. She is keeping the family afloat, with little to no contribution from Todd because Todd was not the successful financial advisor that he portrayed himself to be, but in fact is under investigation by the FBI for fraud, among many other things.
But wait, there's more. Okay. So, remember that piping hot tea that I promised you earlier and how Todd is a lying liar? Well, everything about Todd is a lie. His marriage, his career, even his name.
Todd Smith was born Todd Raprager in Machesney Park. He grew up with his mom Margo and stepfather Herbert and three half siblings, Christina, Dane, and Justin.
Todd and Katrina actually attended the same high school, that’s Harlem High many years apart. And according to what his former classmate Brenda Paulson told 2020, Todd was short, thin, and good looking. He played in the band and was on the football team for a while. Brenda noted that Todd, “Seemed like a really nice kid,” going on to admit that he seemed like there was maybe something going on in his home
Understatement, because as the Loves Park Post-Machesney Park pilot, that’s a newspaper, what they reported in March of 1985 was that 17-year-old Todd got into a fight with his mom and stepdad. And to cool off and clear his head, Todd went for a walk. Nothing unusual about that.
Except for the fact that before he left, he unplugged the natural gas line and the house exploded.
The blast woke up the sleeping family and they all fortunately managed to escape through a blown out wall. Now, Herb, that's Todd's stepfather, he actually tried to go back in and save Todd and he's screaming for his stepson. He's worried sick about him, not knowing that Todd was taking a casual little stroll around the neighborhood, as one does after trying to obliterate his entire family.
Todd was arrested, and during his interrogation, he admitted that he just wanted to shake everyone up, saying, “I would try my scare tactic.” I mean, I don't know, what about like, a Whoopee cushion in a chair or something, put set in the house on fire? That's crazy, that's cuckoo clock crazy.
It seems as though most of his ire was directed at his mom, telling investigators, “She is constantly nagging at me about everything. She treated me like I was six years old all the time.”
Todd received 30 months of probation and as retired detective Larry Schultz at the Winnebago County Sheriff's Department told 2020, “Looking back at it, you would have to say he was a troubled boy, probably needed some help.”
I would concur with that Larry.
Three years later, Todd met and fell in love with his first wife, Teresa. She was 21, he was 20, and they met at a party. And according to what Teresa told 2020 about her future husband, “He seemed very kind and fun to be with. Seemed like a genuinely nice person. That's almost verbatim what his classmate Brenda said about him. So Todd presents really well in the beginning.
So, by now, Todd was completely estranged from his family, no surprise. And so in 1992, Todd and Teresa went to Jamaica to get married, just the two of them, It was also around this time that Todd legally changed his name from Raprager to Smith, which was his biological father's name. The couple had three daughters, Paige, Devin, and Sydney. And initially, anyway, marriage and fatherhood seemed to suit Todd, with Teresa telling 2020 about their marriage, “The early years were good. We were happy.”
However, the bloom comes off the rose 10 years into the marriage. For one, Teresa has little to no idea what her husband actually does for a living beyond something vague in the financial world. The income that Todd was bringing in was wholly inconsistent. And eventually the couple had to sell their house and move in with Teresa's parents. Teresa went back to work two jobs and it all becomes overwhelming for her. She's working two jobs, she's trying to raise the kids. Todd's just really not doing a whole lot. So the couple splits, although they do share custody of the three girls.
So 2001, same year that the couple divorced in October of that year, Teresa was brutally attacked in her driveway after coming home one night by someone in a werewolf mask. She's knocked down, punched in the face, beaten repeatedly. Although she couldn't see the person's face, she is convinced that it's Todd. She files a police report and of course Todd denies that he has anything to do with it. And unfortunately, the evidence proved inconclusive and the case was closed.
Teresa observed to 2020 about her ex-husband, “I think that image was everything to him. And he fooled people into believing that he was successful and that he was providing and that we were the perfect family.”
Obviously, finding all of this out makes it really hard to believe much, if anything, that Todd says because again, he's a lying liar. And then things start to get really real in the investigation into what happened to Katrina when Todd makes a big mistake, big, huge, blows the whole case wide open.
As reported by the Rockford Register Star, after Todd answered questions from investigators on October 24th, just a few days after Katrina went missing, he called Detective Vince Lindbergh to complain that he didn't like some of the information that he said Detective John Berg, who was also on the case, had imparted about the case to Todd's friends and family, specifically, about all of the blood found in the trunk of Katrina's car.
Well, there was just one problem with all of his puffed-up indignation about what police were supposedly telling his family. So, in any criminal investigation, there are always certain details that cops hold back from the media because there are things that only the perpetrator or perpetrators will know. And you don't want those things getting out because it will compromise the investigation.
In this particular case, at the time that Todd was reeling about the blood in the trunk of the car, the cops hadn't even processed the car, which means they hadn't found any blood in the trunk, which means they definitely did not tell Katrina's family about it. Which begs the question, how does Todd know about the blood in the trunk of the car?
I think we all know how Todd knows about the blood in the trunk of the car.
When pressed about it, Todd claims a family member told him, but all he does is make himself not just suspect number one, but suspect number only. From here on out, the dominoes start falling. A search of Todd's computer reveals that he was the one that created the flyer calling out Katrina's affair with Guy Gabriel.
They also find tracking software that matches up with a small box that cops found in Katrina's car. This was a tracking device that he put in her car. And apparently Todd had tried to erase all of this evidence from his computer. And while I usually say that computers are stupid sometimes, computers are smarter than we are.
Cops bring Todd in to confront him with all of this evidence, and he's still playing dumb about everything, and he might have gotten away with it, except, his luck runs out when an off-duty firefighter who's out fishing spots something unusual in the Rock River.
It's the body of Katrina.
Katrina Smith was 30 years old.
Katrina had to be ID'd by her dental records. As Detective John Berg said in A Time to Kill, “It was tremendous damage.” It was determined that she had died from blunt force trauma, likely attacked from behind, though there were the presence of defensive wounds, which means she fought for her life.
As Winnebago County State's attorney, Marilyn Ross, described to A Time to Kill, “This was a brutal attack on Katrina Smith. The attack showed that the individual who attacked her was very aggressive, very emotional, and was going to make sure that she did not survive the attack.”
Based on the size and shape of the wounds, police theorized that the weapon used to kill Katrina was a bat or a pipe. And during their search of Todd's house, they find the bat and Louisville's slither in the garage. Beyond the blood found on the bat, when they sprayed luminol on the garage, lit up like a Christmas tree, revealing that there had been a lot of blood that had been cleaned up.
Todd was arrested and charged with first degree murder, aggravated domestic battery, concealment of a homicidal death, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and aggravated unlawful restraint. He decides to plead not guilty to all of the charges, which is his right.
Investigators believe that when Katrina got off of work, she went home to the house that she shared with Todd because she was going to tell him that she wanted a divorce. And as she was leaving to head back to her friend's condo where she was staying, Todd snapped and launched the surprise attack on her, beating her over and over and over until she died.
Then he dragged her lifeless body to the garage, put her in the trunk of her car and proceeded to drive to the bridge over the Rock River and tossed her body in the water. He ditched the car. He's getting rid of her cell phone and her purse. Sent her this bogus rah-rah text wishing her good luck on her job interview, thinking all the time that he was home free.
Well, turns out that the tracking device that he had put under Katrina's car, he thought he turned it off. But no, in fact, he'd left it on and investigators were able to see via the tracking software on his computer that every single move he made that night.
So everything matched up to where all the different items were found based on the tracking software. WFIR reporter Whitney Martin summed it up to 2020 this quote, “Todd thought this was a crime that he was going to get away with.” Clearly.
Todd's trial commenced in January of 2017 and a jury later found him guilty of all charges.
And on April 4th of that same year at his sentencing hearing, when he addressed the court, he continued to proclaim his innocence. But the Rockford Register Star reporting that he referred to Katrina's murder as “An evil senseless tragedy that left a trail of destruction in its path. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for failing in my role as husband and protector. Although I am not guilty as the state portrayed, I harbor no ill will.”
The judge did not buy his act and Todd was sentenced to 59 years in jail.
In 2014, after his arrest for Katrina's murder but before a trial could start, the wire and mail fraud charges that he had been facing for bilking investors were dismissed before Todd could enter a plea.
Todd appealed his murder conviction, which was denied.
Earliest that he can be considered for parole is 2069.
In cases like this, the why is always the big question that we want an answer to. For State's attorney, Marilyn Hite, who prosecuted the case, it's a simple one. As she told A Time to Kill, “Todd took his marriage vows literally till death do us part. His motive in killing Katrina was to maintain her as his wife forever. You will forever be my wife. You will die my wife.”
Thank you so much for joining me for another episode of the Dark Side of Love. I'm your host, Bianca Sloan, and show your love for the Dark Side of Love by visiting thedarksideoflove.com for show notes and transcripts. While you're there, sign up for my newsletter to be notified about new episodes. And you can also find a link to my Patreon page where you can access bonus material and other fun stuff. Learn more about my suspense novels about the dark side of love by visiting Biancasloane.com.
Thanks for hanging out with me and join me next time for another tale of love gone wrong. I'll see you on the Dark Side.
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