1998 Cold Case FINALLY Solved By a Confession| Miranda Fenner’s Case | Mysterious Hook

A cold case confession. Tonight, a murder that has haunted our area for nearly two decades, for little over two decades actually, is finally solved. In November of 1998, 18-year-old Miranda Fenner was found murdered at The Movie Store in Laurel, her feet bound, her throat slashed. Now, after nearly 21 years, a suspect has confessed to the crime.

The night of November 15th, 1998, in Laurel, Montana, was supposed to be like any other night. But for 18-year-old Miranda Fenner, who was simply doing her job at a video rental store, it turned into a nightmare. In a matter of minutes, she was brutally attacked and left for dead. Will justice ever be served for Miranda’s untimely death? What happened in those crucial moments before the attack? Hi, friends, and welcome back to Mysterious Hook.

 Today, we are looking at the case of Miranda Fenner. But first, if you still haven’t subscribed to our channel, please consider hitting that subscribe button and the bell icon below. So, without any further ado, let’s dive right into the mystery. Laurel is a small city located in Yellowstone County, Montana, with a population of just over 7,000 people.

 It is known for its friendly community and picturesque surroundings. The city is situated along the Yellowstone River, which provides numerous opportunities for outdoor recreation, such as fishing and kayaking. Laurel also has a historic downtown district with charming shops and restaurants. Overall, Laurel offers a peaceful and welcoming atmosphere that is perfect for those looking to escape the hustle and bustle of city life.

 And it is here our story begins. In contrast to the quiet town of Laurel, Miranda Colleen Fenner’s birthplace of Sacramento was a bustling city located in California. She was born on December 26th, 1979 to Mike and Sherry Fenner. She was not an only child, but had a younger brother by the name of Tim. When Miranda was just 11 years old, her family packed up their belongings and moved to Laurel, Montana.

Despite leaving her childhood friends and familiar surroundings, Miranda adapted quickly and soon made new friends in her new home. She attended Laurel High School, where she excelled both academically and socially. But it wasn’t just books and academics that kept her busy. She also had a creative side that she nurtured by spending time with her loved ones, drawing, and exploring the latest trends in fashion.

Whether it was indulging in a shopping spree with her gal pals or sketching her latest design, Miranda always found joy in the little things in life. After years of hard work, Miranda finally graduated from Laurel High School in May 1998, proud of all she had accomplished. Fresh out of high school, Miranda was ready to take on the world.

 It wasn’t long before an opportunity presented itself in the form of a job at The Movie Store, a charming video rental store located at 419 Main Street in Laurel. Miranda loved her job and quickly became a familiar face to the store’s regulars. With her infectious smile, she greeted every customer with enthusiasm and a willingness to help.

The store was only a stone’s throw away from her family home, and Miranda often walked to and from work, taking in the sights and sounds of her beloved town. Miranda was content with her life, but fate can be cruel, and tragedy soon struck like a bolt of lightning on a clear day. On Sunday, November 15th, 1998, just a few mi

nutes past 8:00 p.m., the Laurel Police Department received a frantic call reporting a shooting at the movie store where 18-year-old Miranda worked. The caller, who had been driving by, noticed a woman desperately trying to crawl out of the doorway of the video store and immediately pulled over to help. He said that as he approached, he realized with horror that the woman seemed to have been shot in the neck and was fighting for her life.

Police officers rushed to the scene, their sirens wailing as they sped through the quiet streets. When they arrived on the scene, they were met with a shocking sight. Three people huddled around a woman who lay in a pool of blood directly to the right of the front door of the video rental store. The officers immediately rushed to her aid, but it was clear that she was in bad shape.

Her body was drenched in blood, making it difficult for them to determine where the injuries were. She was unconscious and unresponsive, with only a weak pulse to indicate that she was still alive. The officers knew they had to act quickly to save her life. As they worked to stabilize her, they noticed the deep slashing injuries to her neck, and their hearts sank.

 They wondered if a shooting had taken place or if something even more sinister was at play. The officers called for medical personnel to respond to the area, and they continued to do everything in their power to keep the victim alive. It was a race against time. The evening air was thick with tension and fear as an ambulance pulled up to the scene of the shooting.

 The officers worked quickly as they helped to move the badly injured victim into the ambulance. The ambulance then raced through the streets, its sirens blaring as it rushed towards a nearby location where a helicopter was waiting to take the victim to St. Vincent Hospital in Billings. As they arrived at the hospital, the victim was whisked away to an operating room where a team of skilled surgeons worked tirelessly.

The hospital was filled with a sense of urgency and everyone worked together with a singular purpose to save the victim’s life. It didn’t take long for the victim to be identified as none other than Miranda. Meanwhile, back at the movie store, a flurry of activity was going on. Police officers had made their way in through the back door of the store, which they noticed was slightly open.

Inside chaos reigned supreme. The store was in complete disarray, but that wasn’t the worst part. There was a trail of blood leading from the back of the store to the front door where Miranda had evidently crawled in agony. The officers were shocked by all they saw. After securing the scene of the crime, they quickly notified the command staff and detectives from both the Laurel Police Department and the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office.

When detectives arrived, they quickly got to work. They took measurements and sketches of the outside of the store before swiftly moving inside. The scene was gruesome and the detectives couldn’t help but feel a twinge of horror as they checked for fingerprints and footprints. The flash of cameras filled the room as they photographed the scene capturing every last detail.

In their pursuit of justice, they seized several physical items that could help bring the perpetrator to justice. As they worked, patrol officers also scoured the surrounding area, knocking on doors and talking to locals, hoping to gather more information and identify witnesses. One of the officers, simply identified as Officer Wells, was soon dispatched from the crime scene to Saint Vincent Hospital to check on the condition of Miranda and to secure any valuable evidence that might help in the investigation. Upon arriving, he was

quickly escorted to the operating room, where he donned a sterile gown and entered the operating room. There, he witnessed the surgeon’s valiant efforts to save Miranda’s life. But sadly, at 10:01 p.m., she was declared dead. Her injuries were just too severe. It was a heartbreaking moment for everyone. The news of Miranda’s death spread like wildfire and soon reached her family’s ears.

 The weight of the tragedy hit them like a ton of bricks, leaving them devastated and struggling to come to terms with the reality of what had happened. The following day, November 16th, 1998, an autopsy was conducted on Miranda’s body by Dr. Tom Bennett, who was assisted by Dr. Ken Mueller. As they examined her, they discovered the brutal truth.

 Miranda had been stabbed and slashed in the throat, leaving her with no chance of survival. The only other wound they found was a defensive laceration on her right index finger. With heavy hearts, they classified her death as a homicide. In the wake of Miranda’s tragic death, detectives and law enforcement officers began an intense investigation to catch the killer.

They left no stone unturned, interviewing hundreds of people and combing through every possible lead. Despite their best efforts, they were unable to locate a suspect or identify a clear motive for the crime. It was noted that a small amount of cash had been taken from the video store’s register, so the detectives could not entirely rule out the possibility that robbery was a motive.

The days that followed were filled with frustration and despair as the investigation seemed to hit one dead end after another. Despite months passing by, the case remained open and active, and detectives continued to work tirelessly to uncover any leads. Meanwhile, Miranda’s family refused to give up hope, and they took matters into their own hands.

They printed posters with Miranda’s picture and the haunting words, “Murdered in Montana,” and plastered them across the country. Their determination to find justice for Miranda never wavered, even in the face of uncertainty and grief. It was a hot July day in 2000, just 2 years after the brutal murder of Miranda, when Dawson County Sheriff’s deputies received a tip about a man they wanted to question in connection with a traffic-related incident.

The officers spotted the man, whose identity they did not reveal, in the city of Glendive, Montana, and attempted to stop him. But before they could even approach him, the man pulled out a gun and shot one of the deputies in the leg. In an instant, the peaceful town turned into a chaotic scene as officers scrambled for cover and returned fire.

The exchange ended with the man losing his life. The news of the man’s death soon sparked a new wave of rumors and speculation about Miranda’s unsolved murder. It was said that he had made some shocking claims before his death. Claims that he was involved in the brutal killing of Miranda in 1998. These rumors were enough to catch the attention of the then Yellowstone County Sheriff Chuck Maxwell.

He was determined to leave no stone unturned in his quest to bring Miranda’s killer to justice. He dispatched two of his best detectives to Glendive to investigate any possible links between the man who was shot and killed and the death of Miranda. After an extensive investigation, the detectives reported that the rumors were unfounded and unconfirmed.

 The search for Miranda’s killer continued. Years passed after this and the murder remained unsolved. In February 2006, the case was thrust into the limelight this time on a national TV talk show called The Montel Williams Show. Sherry, Miranda’s heartbroken mother, appeared on the show with psychic Sylvia Browne who claimed to have some insight about the case.

 During the show, Sylvia revealed that she believed the killers were customers at the video store and had been loitering there. The psychic also shared that two men aged 19 and 24 were responsible for Miranda’s death and that they lived within a 5-mile radius of the store. Despite her emotional turmoil and skepticism of the psychic Sylvia, Sherry believed that being on the show was vital to bring Miranda’s case to the attention of a larger audience.

In the end, it wasn’t about her doubts or fears but about honoring her daughter’s memory and finding justice for her senseless death. The Montel Williams Show proved to be a turning point in Miranda’s case. After the show aired, Sherry began receiving a flood of phone calls and letters from people who had watched the program.

Sherry was overwhelmed with hope and made it her mission to pass all the information she received to the detectives working on Miranda’s case. However, despite the seemingly positive leads, detectives were unable to uncover any concrete evidence that would lead them to Miranda’s killer. Years went by, but Sherry never lost hope.

 She continued to receive tips and leads about the brutal murder of her daughter, Miranda. Every time she received new information, it was like opening up old wounds, but she knew that even the tiniest lead could be the key to finally finding her daughter’s killer. In 2012, with an unwavering determination, Sherry printed new reward posters with Miranda’s photo and the headline, “Justice for Miranda”, in bold letters.

The posters offered a $25,000 reward and pleaded for anyone with information to come forward. The posters were distributed not only in their state, but also across the country, as Sherry refused to rest until justice was served. It was a glimmer of hope for Miranda’s family when the Billings Police Department’s Cold Case Unit was established in March of 2012.

Finally, there was a dedicated team of detectives to work on unsolved murders. Miranda’s murder case was transferred to the unit, and they didn’t waste any time in redoubling their efforts to solve the case. Two detectives, Frank Fritz and Shane Bancroft, took charge of the investigation, pouring over old leads and finding new ones.

Other detectives who were part of the Cold Case Unit and working on Miranda’s murder were confident that justice would finally be served. They knew that people in the community had information that could break the case wide open. With new technological advances in DNA testing and a constant stream of tips and leads, they were convinced that the killer’s days were numbered.

In October 2013, a woman named Beverly Sailor contacted authorities claiming that she had valuable information regarding the homicide of Miranda Fenner. Detective Bancroft was assigned to speak with her over the phone, and what she revealed left him stunned. Beverly was previously married to a man named David Sailor, who had children from a previous marriage.

 At the time of Miranda’s murder, they were living in Laurel. Beverly said that she believed David’s stepson Zachary O’Neal was involved in the crime and described him as a violent person. She recounted specific incidents that deeply troubled her and painted a disturbing picture of Zachary’s personality. According to Beverly, her husband mentioned on several occasions over the years that Zachary had rented a movie on the night of the homicide.

 She left Montana shortly after the murder, but was now returning, which brought up memories and motivated her to call the authorities. Detective Bancroft was grateful for the information, but knew they had to investigate further to see if there was any truth to Beverly’s claims. As he dug deeper, he found that while Zachary did live in the area at the time of the homicide, there was no other evidence linking him to the crime.

 It was yet another frustrating dead end for the detectives. As the years passed, various people even stepped forward to confess to the murder of Miranda, but each claim turned out to be a false lead, causing the detectives to end up chasing false confessions. The case seemed to be stuck in a never-ending loop of dashed hopes and futile attempts at closure.

In a surprising twist of events, in April 2016, Zachary, the stepson who had been implicated by his former stepmother, made a shocking confession while at a psychiatric hospital in Spokane, Washington. He claimed to be responsible for the murder of Miranda. However, detectives were skeptical of his confession and considered him non-credible since the details he provided were already widely known.

 In addition, Zachary had also taken responsibility for a second murder that had not occurred, and this even further cast doubt on his credibility. As a result, detectives were forced to redirect their focus elsewhere in their pursuit of justice for Miranda. Almost a year later, on March 19th, 2017, none other than Zachary walked into the Yellowstone County Detention Facility and asked to speak to deputies.

As he was led into the interview room, the deputies couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t seem well. He appeared to be high on something, and they wondered what was going on with him. It was déjà vu as Zachary repeated the same story he had told almost a year earlier. He had murdered Miranda at the Movie Store in Laurel.

 He explained that he had been in and out of jails and prisons over the past several years, and that he had tried telling medical staff in Spokane about what he had done, but they did not take him seriously. He then went on to reveal that he had used methamphetamine, which explained his current state. After Zachary’s confession, the deputies wasted no time in informing Detective Fritz of his revelation.

The detective was determined to get to the bottom of the case, so he promised to contact Zachary the next day. Concerned about Zachary’s well-being, one of the deputies offered to give him a ride to a crisis center. As they drove, the deputy urged Zachary to keep his phone charged and ready for a call from the detectives.

 Zachary nodded in agreement. Two days later, on March 21st, 2017, Zachary went to the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office to meet with Detectives Fritz and Bancroft. As they escorted him to a conference room, Zachary’s face was stained with tears. Detectives inquired about the cause of his distress, and Zachary revealed that he had seen the Miranda reward posters in the lobby, which had triggered a wave of emotions within him.

 As Zachary sat in front of the detectives, he was visibly nervous and fidgety. Detective Bancroft noticed Zachary’s unease and tried to make him feel at ease by letting him know that he wasn’t there to arrest him. They read him his rights, and Zachary acknowledged that he understood. The detectives made it clear that they would need time to verify the truthfulness of whatever he was going to tell them before taking any action.

Zachary then hesitated and revealed his desire to inform his parents before going public with the information. The detectives nodded, reassuring him there was no need to rush, and that they would give him time to speak to his parents. As Zachary began his confession, he took the detectives back in time to his teenage years.

He recounted that he had been living in Spokane, but had returned to Laurel around May of 1988. At the young age of 18, he claimed he lived with his stepfather David Sailor at 702 West 12th Street. Zachary admitted to spiraling down into the depth of drug addiction, committing thefts and burglaries to fund his habits.

He soon began to talk about the day of the homicide. He revealed that he had been at home with his mother on that fateful day when she asked him to rent some movies. Due to this, he drove to the movie store and rented four or five movies including an adult film. He described the car he drove at the time and said he paid cash for the rentals.

 The detectives confirmed that the account linked to Zachary’s stepdad David was used to rent four movies at 5:04 p.m. on the evening of the homicide. As Zachary spoke, he recalled vivid details about that fateful day. Miranda, wearing a blue shirt and glasses, had done nothing to provoke him when he rented the movies. But when he returned home, his mother was enraged upon discovering the adult film he rented and had ordered him to take it back.

 He took the film back to the movie store and that was when he decided to rob it. He waited until other customers left, then pulled out a small .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol and demanded money from Miranda. She complied and he took the cash without harming her. But then his paranoia kicked in and he took Miranda to a back room where he described in detail how he tied her up with tape so that he could make his escape.

However, the thought of her being a witness still bothered him, so he reached for his knife and slit her throat. As Zachary recounted this gruesome scene to the detectives, he broke down into tears. He recounted that he had then panicked when he thought he had heard someone coming and fled out the back door, leaving Miranda behind, mortally wounded.

Detectives leaned in, their eyes fixed on Zachary as he described the chilling details of how he supposedly took Miranda’s life. But their questioning wasn’t over yet. They needed to know if this was the first time he had hurt someone. The answer was far more sinister than they could have ever imagined. Zachary’s voice quivered as he confessed to a brutal misconduct and attempted murder that had occurred just 1 month before Miranda’s murder.

The victim? A woman he had seen on Broadwater. Someone he decided to prey on. With a coldness that sent shivers down the detectives’ spines, Zachary recounted how he had cut her throat and left her for dead. But then a shocking revelation. He had worn a condom during the attack and believed he had left it behind when he fled the scene.

The detectives listened in horror as Zachary explained that he thought the victim had survived because her death hadn’t been reported in the news. But why had he tried to kill her in the first place? Zachary’s answer was simple. He was afraid of going to prison. As the interview progressed, detectives asked Zachary what had driven him to come forward after all these years.

He spoke of the guilt and remorse that had plagued him ever since his stepbrother perished in a fire back in 2013. Zachary revealed that he had been struggling with depression and had considered taking his own life. And that he felt it was finally time to own up to his crimes. The detectives were no doubt stunned by the level of detail and consistency in his account.

But despite this, they remained skeptical. And this led them to ask him why they should believe him. To this, Zachary confidently responded that he knew specific details that were never released to the public. The detectives couldn’t believe Zachary just yet because they knew that a confession alone was not enough to prove guilt under Montana law.

 They needed more concrete evidence to ensure justice was served. As the interrogation came to a close, the detectives made one last move to ensure that they had all the evidence they needed to solve the case. With Zachary’s permission, they obtained buccal swabs from him to collect a DNA sample.

 The swabs were carefully packaged and sent to the Montana Forensic Division for analysis, where they hoped that the results would be the final piece of the puzzle that would bring justice to Miranda. After their interview with Zachary, Detectives Fritz and Bancroft worked to corroborate his confession. They began by investigating the other case Zachary mentioned.

 Their research led them to an unsolved cold case with the Billings Police Department, which they immediately shared with Detective Krueger. As they compared notes, Detective Krueger became convinced that Zachary’s admissions lined up with the brutal abuse of a newspaper carrier named Julia Lilethan on September 5th, 1998. With this in mind, Detective Krueger took the DNA evidence from the case and compared it to the buccal swab obtained from Zachary.

 And on April 18th, 2017, the Montana Forensic Division reported the astonishing news. The DNA profile from a condom found at the scene of the crime matched Zachary’s. The evidence was undeniable, and Zachary’s long hidden crimes were finally coming to light. Detectives Fritz and Bancroft did not stop there.

 Their investigation led them to a friend of Zachary’s simply identified as SB. During an interview with detectives in May 2017, SB revealed that he had known Zachary since he was a young boy and that Zachary had a history of violent tendencies. SB recounted specific instances of Zachary’s violent behavior and also disclosed that Zachary had confessed to him about killing Miranda two months before he confessed to the detectives.

SB was devastated by Zachary’s confession, especially because he knew Miranda and her family. SB went on to tell detectives about Zachary’s stepbrother who had died in a fire in 2013. Zachary had been seeking justice for his stepbrother’s death and when the people involved were convicted, he thought justice had been served.

 SB said he told Zachary that Miranda’s family also deserved to have justice done and he said he encouraged Zachary to turn himself in. SB claimed he drove Zachary to the sheriff’s office for his interview with detectives in March of 2017. The detectives were amazed by SB’s stories and it gave them another piece of evidence to add to the puzzle.

That same May of 2017, detectives Fritz and Bancroft made their way to Spokane, Washington for another round of questioning with Zachary. As soon as Zachary started talking, the detectives realized they had not heard everything yet. This time, Zachary confessed to violating a third woman. He didn’t shy away from the details as he recounted how he found her and took her to Riverfront Park where he took advantage of her.

 The detectives were horrified, but they pressed on with their questioning. Zachary maintained that he had not killed or hurt the woman beyond the violation. The detectives listened closely, knowing that every piece of information that he gave them could potentially help them bring justice to his victims. In early 2019, Detective Fritz was determined to find any case that could be connected to Zachary’s heinous crimes.

With Autumn Fry’s help, they searched through records of defilement cases reported in 1998. And there it was, a case that occurred in Riverfront Park on September 12th, 1998. Just a week after the abuse of Julia, the newspaper carrier. As Detective Fritz dug deeper, he found eerie similarities between the victim’s reports and Zachary’s account of the events.

The victim had been examined at a hospital, and DNA evidence was recovered. Detective Fritz decided to test this DNA evidence against the sample collected from Zachary, and the results were undeniable. It was a match. This only further corroborated Zachary’s story. Sadly, the victim in this case had passed away in 2013.

But Detective Fritz was more determined than ever to bring justice to all those who were victimized by Zachary. After discovering all of the compelling evidence against Zachary, the detectives knew it was finally time to take action. Now, following their interview with Zachary in Spokane, Washington back in May 2017, he had gotten into trouble and was already serving a prison sentence for burglary and possession of firearms since December 2017, with a release date set for 2024.

However, Zachary was eventually transferred from Washington to Montana to face charges for the brutal murder of Miranda and the abuse and attempted murder of the newspaper carrier in September 1998. Prosecutors decided not to charge him with the third crime, possibly because the victim had already passed away.

On July 23rd, 2019, a hearing was held in a Montana courtroom where Zachary was formally charged with both crimes. Without hesitation, he pleaded guilty. Sentencing for both crimes was set for the following month, August, and Zachary agreed to remain in Montana until then. The day of reckoning finally arrived, August 23rd, 2019.

Emotions ran high inside the district courtroom where Zachary was to be sentenced. He was brought in, shackled, in chains and handcuffs. As people settled in their seats, District Court Judge Jessica Fair made an announcement, warning everyone that any outburst would not be tolerated. She singled out Zachary, reminding him that officers were present in the courtroom.

The tension in the room was palpable and everyone held their breath waiting for what was to come. The courtroom listened intently as Detective Bancroft testified, recounting how Zachary became a suspect in the case years after being overlooked. Then the air grew still as Julia, Zachary’s victim from the September 5th, 1998 attack, bravely took the stand.

She shared the harrowing details of that fateful day, describing it as the worst of her life and the day she came face to face with pure evil. As Julia recounted how Zachary abused her and stabbed her repeatedly in the jaw, throat, hands, and arms, the room was filled with sniffles and tears. She described how she tried to reason with her attacker, telling him she was a single mother with cancer, but to no avail.

The attack left her permanently injured with limited mobility and a lifetime of pain. But the trauma didn’t end there. So Julia was left to grapple with depression, anxiety, in the aftermath of the attack. It was a powerful testimony that left many in the courtroom moved and saw prosecutors asking for the stiffest of penalties for Zachary.

I’m I’m Julia Lilithan and I am a survivor of serial and murderer. Tension filled the courtroom as Miranda’s parents took the stand. The pain of their loss was still fresh and raw, and the sight of Zachary sitting in chairs before them only added fuel to their emotions. When Sherry, Miranda’s mother, began to speak, her voice quivered with barely contained rage.

Zach O’Neal, you deserve every horrible thing that comes your way. There is no forgiveness in my soul and no remorse for my thoughts. She glared at Zachary and called him a vicious monster, spitting out the words with venom. She went on to say that she could not find any forgiveness in her soul for the despicable acts he had committed against her daughter.

Her words echoed through the courtroom, leaving no doubt that Zachary’s actions had forever shattered the lives of everyone he had hurt. When Zachary’s defense attorney, Chris Copenhaver took the stand, she painted a different picture of her client. She revealed how Zachary’s addiction to meth began at the tender age of 10 and grew stronger as the years went by.

However, Copenhaver told the court that Zachary had undergone a transformation since confessing his crimes to law enforcement. She believed he had the capacity for change and that he deserved the second chance. In a last-ditch effort to humanize Zachary, his biological father, Mark O’Neal, and his sister took the stand to offer their support.

They expressed their heartfelt apologies to Miranda’s family and expressed their hope for them to move forward despite the heart-wrenching ordeal they had gone through. It was soon time for the sentencing and the courtroom held its collective breath as all eyes turned to Judge Jessica as she delivered Zachary’s fate.

The tension was palpable and the silence was deafening as the judge declared the sentence that Zachary would be forced to serve. She handed him not one, not two, but three life sentences for the atrocities he had committed against Miranda and Julia. But that wasn’t all. Zachary was also designated as a level three high-risk violent offender, which means that he would be closely monitored for the rest of his life.

The severity of his crimes demanded that he be kept off the streets and the judge made it clear that he would not be eligible for parole until he had served a minimum of 30 years behind bars. The weight of the sentence hung heavy in the courtroom as Zachary was led away knowing that he would spend the rest of his days paying for the horrors he had inflicted upon his victims.

And with that, the case of Miranda Fenner came to a close. A man who had evaded justice for so long was finally held accountable for his heinous crimes. Although justice was served, the scars of his actions will forever remain with the victims and their families. But if Zachary had not confessed to the crimes, do you think the case would have ever been solved? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.

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