Original subtitles

[news] The hunt for Michael Kerkowski

enters its third month.

When Tammy and Michael first disappeared,

the first thing I thought was

that they got on a plane and left.

Michael Kerkowski was one of the top distributors of OxyContin.

[news] The pharmacist skippedúout on his sentencing in May.

Tammy Fassett happened to be present.

Pulled out the duct tape, the zip ties,

the hands, the feet.

He applied the zip tie around the throat.

Is this a serial killer?

They were showing it on TV, and I said they found her.

[chilling music]

[narrator] In Tunkanock, Wyoming County,

police obtain a warrant

to search the property ofú a man named Hugo Selenski,

after trooper Gerard Sachney

is informed that bodies may be buried there.

There was already a search team

staged nearby the state park,

about a mile from Hugo's house.

So once we got the approval and the okay

and the signature of the judge,

they descended upon Mr. Selenski's residence.

[narrator] Two people believedúto have vanished without trace

may have been murdered and buried

in Hugo Selenski's backyard.

It is a law enforcement presence

the likes of which we've never seen

in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Dozens of police cars, mobile forensic, huge vans.

They go into the property armed with a search warrant.

They have individuals inú the nearby woods watching,

surveilling Selenski prior toúthem coming up the driveway.

When they enter the property, Lieutenant Rick Krawitz

hands Hugo Selenski the search warrant that he reads.

It says they're looking for bodies.

And Hugo arrogantly says to Lieutenant Krawitz,

"what is this, a joke?

I'll help you dig."

He basically was like, you know, go ahead.

Go ahead and search, you'reú not going to find anything.

[narrator] Luzerne County isn't the kind of place

where police are usually seen digging for bodies.

Luzerne County generally is referred

to as the back mountain region of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

It is a more affluent community,

larger pieces of parcels of property,

planned suburban developments,

a little country, but close enough to town

that really it's a retreat for people that work in town.

[narrator] But now police believe a backyard

may hold the answer to a mystery

that has haunted families for months.

In 2003, people were looking for

37-year-old pharmacist Michael Kerkowski

and his 36-year-old girlfriend,

Tammy Fassett.

Did they run away, or were they here all along?

My name is Lisa Sands.

I'm Tammy Fassett's older sister.

Tammy was a wonderful, bright, joyful person.

She would do anything for everybody or anybody.

She always, always smiled, always smiled.

I don't think I ever seen her mad once.

Teachers in school would always say to me,

"Why can't you be more like your sister Tammy?

"So outgoing, so funny."

Growing up, we had good times, bad times,

fought over boyfriends.

She wasn't a tomboy like I was.

I shot rifles, I shot shotguns, I went fishing.

Not her, she'd rather shop... or cook.

[Jarrett] Tammy Fassett was a single mom.

She has two children.

She was living a life, a very simple life.

She was working at a bagel shop in Tunkhannock,

working hard to make ends meet,

and had come out of a difficult relationship.

But her future was bright.

Her children were doing well.

And quite honestly, she was in a position

to move forward in her life, find herself someone new.

[narrator] The someone new in Tammy's life

is 37-year-old Michael Kerkowski.

[Gerard] Michael Kerkowski was a pharmacist

just outside of Tunkhannock Borough,

Wyoming County.

He was raised in Dallas.

His father was a banker, middle-class family.

He graduated from Temple.

And then after that, I believe

he worked at a few local pharmacies,

and then eventually opened up his own business,

a medicine shop, in Tunkhannock Township.

Michael was large in stature,

always described as bright, very intelligent.

I would say socially a little awkward, shy.

He was a loving father.

The centre of his life was his two sons.

Tammy Fassett met Michael Kerkowski

because Michael's pharmacy was in the same complex

as the bagel shop where Tammy worked.

And Michael would go in there more frequently

because he developed a liking for Tammy.

Michael had been coming out of a volatile marital situation.

Tammy had just gotten out of a difficult marital situation,

and they found solace in one another.

They were a source of sunshine for one another.

[Lisa] They seemed to get along great.

They were both happy.

She smiled all the time when he was around her.

And she got along great with his parents,

and especially his mother.

[narrator] But not long afterMichael and Tammy began dating,

Michael comes under scrutiny

for the illegal sale of the painkiller, OxyContin.

In 2002 in the United States, there were small pharmacies

that were giving out drugs to people who didn't need them,

who were selling drugs, mostly painkillers,

and making profit for themselves and keeping it on the side.

And so Michael Kerkowski is operating at a time

when this was happening in the pharmacy world.

Michael Kerkowski was one of the top distributors of OxyContin

that these investigators have ever come upon.

It was reported publicly

that this operation had gotten so large

that a million dollars had changed hands

and that Michael was making that kind of money

in this little country pharmacy.

As a result of this, he was arrested,

and there were some trials held up here in Wyoming County.

He pled guilty and was also found guilty

in one of the trials.

And was scheduled to beú sentenced to state prison.

[Lisa] When Michael was being charged,

she was right there beside him.

She went to every court hearing.

She went to everything.

She just believed him, I guess.

[narrator] On Friday, 3rd May,

his girlfriend, Tammy Fassett,

drives to Michael's house in Hunlock Creek

in rural Luzerne County, whereú a celebration is planned.

[Lisa] That weekend that she went down,

they were planning a birthday party.

And she was supposed to be home Friday at 4 o'clock

to pick up her youngest son,

and she never came.

So by Saturday morning...

I didn't sleep for the whole weekend.

I didn't sleep.

We had this big window with a bench, and I sat by it,

kept watching out the window.

But by Sunday, when she didn't come home,

I knew something was definitely wrong.

You know you get that knot in your stomach?

Mike's father called me to ask me if I'd seen them.

And I said, no, I hadn't.

I said she was supposed to pick Jonathan up Friday

and never showed up.

So by Sunday, I met him in Dallas,

and we went to Mike's house.

And that's when we saw what we saw down there.

[Gerard] They found his wallet and credit cards there,

present intact.

They weren't taken. They weren't stolen.

They weren't removed.

They were gone, but all of their personal possessions

appeared to be intact.

Finally, Monday morning, I believe,

they appeared at the state police barracks in Shickshinny

and filed a missing persons report then.

[Jarrett] Law enforcement responds,

and they're treating this as a missing persons investigation.

But remember, this particular missing person

is known to law enforcement.

He's facing a lengthy jail sentence in days.

And it's known that Michael Kerkowski has access

to large amounts of cash.

Law enforcement certainly takes the report

that he's missing seriously,

but is also suspicious and suspects

that Michael may have taken flight

and escaped his prison sentence

and taken his new girlfriend, Tammy Fassett, along with him.

[news] The hunt for Michael Kerkowski

enters its third month.

Still no clue where he is.

The pharmacist skipped outú on his sentencing in May.

He illegally sold prescription drugs

at his pharmacy outside of Tunkhannock,

and he's also guilty ofúMedicaid and insurance fraud.

Now the DA wants to sentence him,

even though he's still missing.

It lets people know that just because you skip

doesn't mean you're notú gonna face punishment.

Part of the steps that law enforcement take

in trying to locate Michael and Tammy,

they interview family, loved ones.

They start to look at credit card reports,

any indication that Michael and Tammy are alive and well

and maybe on an island someplace.

They're looking for any indication,

any statements they may have made,

any other preparations they may have made

to get out of the area.

[narrator] There are suggestions that Michael and Tammy

may have been planning a fresh start

somewhere far from Pennsylvania.

Tammy and the boys and I were having dinner,

and all of a sudden, she started asking questions

about different countries, Brazil, and stuff like that,

and if the boys would mind moving.

And I said to her, just jokingly,

I said, you're not moving anywheres.

You're not leaving me behind.

And she just kind of looked at me.

But after a while, after I got thinking about it,

after the dishes and everything was done

and I was sitting on the couch, I kind of got to thinking,

they're not thinking of running, are they?

[Jarrett] There is no credit card activity

that would suggest Michael Kerkowski

is alive and well.

But that doesn't close the door on the fact

that he may have escaped.

Michael is known to have access by law enforcement

to large amounts of cash.

So Michael could be operating without utilizing credit cards.

There were a lot of people that thought that Michael and Tammy

just fled.

And I believe even up to the district attorney at the time

here in Wyoming County, he was under that assumption

that Michael did not want to go to jail.

There's gonna beú something waiting for you

when you get back.

That he's gonna come back and go directly to jail

and not have his day in court to say,

here's why I should get a better sentence than the one I got.

[narrator] In their search for the missing fugitive,

Michael Kerkowski and his girlfriend, Tammy Fassett,

police interview everyone close to the couple,

including a close friend, Hugo Selenski.

[Joni] Kerkowski and Selenski met in kind of a roundabout way.

Hugo Selenski had been dating a cousin

of Kerkowski's ex-wife or estranged wife.

And Hugo had actually taken her,

the woman he was dating,

over to Michael Kerkowski's house

because she was borrowing some money from him.

And that's how the two of them met.

Michael was someoneú who did not fit the bill

for your typical drug dealer

or somebody involved inú a criminal enterprise.

Hugo Selenski, on the other hand,

fitted hook, line, and sinker.

He was brash.

He was reckless.

He was violent.

Not someone to be trifled with.

Michael viewed Hugo as everything he was not.

And he believed that his relationship with Hugo

would kind of fill out any gaps in Michael's personality

or ability to navigate the system.

[narrator] By the time Michael Kerkowski

meets Hugo Selenski,

Selenski has already served years in federal prison

for bank robbery.

When you look at Selenski's track record,

which started at a very, very early age,

this was somebody who, I think in some respects,

was capable of just about anything.

He had an ongoing pattern of picking people

who were either outside of the law already

and finding these vulnerable people.

Michael Kerkowski really, really liked Selenski

from the very moment he met him.

It's almost like he saw Selenski as the cool kid in school.

He clearly trusted Selenski.

When investigators talked with Hugo

and were searching for Michael Kerkowski,

he denied knowing where he was, but law enforcement,

and particularly the Pennsylvania State Police,

these are sharp investigators.

Hugo was not forthcoming with them.

He was arrogant.

He was dismissive.

But he left the impression just enough

that there was a whiff that Michael Kerkowski had absconded.

[narrator] While Selenski implies to police

that Michael Kerkowski

has disappeared of his own accord,

he gives Kerkowski's family a far more direct explanation.

In July of 2002, Mr. and Mrs. Kerkowski

still had no answers.

They had not heard from Michael.

He's now missing for over two months.

And Hugo Selenski goes to them and gives them a ray of hope.

He says, Michael didn't run.

He's preparing a new case.

I can reach him.

And remember, this was the individual

that Michael told them was his best friend

and he trusted more than his lawyers.

These are elderly parents looking for answers,

desperately seeking their son.

And that man comes to them and says, I know where he is.

I know why he left.

And we need to help him.

Michael was trying to getú a new legal team together,

new attorneys,

but this would cost money,

and he would need $30,000 up front to get the ball rolling.

So Mr. Kerkowski complied.

So he did give, at this point, $30,000 to Hugo Selenski.

In August of 2002, one month later,

Hugo reappears at the Kerkowski home

and is asking for 30 more thousand dollars.

The only sign that Michael Kerkowski

is alive and well at this point

is coming from Hugo Selenski.

Reluctantly, Mr. Kerkowski goes back into monies

that Michael Kerkowski had given him and left at his house,

took 30 more thousand dollars and gave it to Hugo Selenski.

In September of this year,

by the time he comes back for the third time,

they're starting to really have questions.

They have not received any communication from their son.

They have not talked to their son.

They have not received any proof of life from their son.

And Mike Kerkowski senior essentially says to Selenski,

"I'll give you this money,

but we need to talk to our son first."

As day becomes night,

they travel down into Mr. Kerkowski's basement.

And Mr. Kerkowski tells Hugo, "I don't believe it,

if I don't talk to my son,

you're not getting another dime."

Hugo Selenski pulls out a gun

and shoots it right over Mr. Kerkowski's head

into the wall behind him.

And he said, your money or your life,

I'm not playing anymore.

Mr. Kerkowski jumps up from his seat,

goes back into the room,

and the money was held in an air duct that was no longer used,

got the remaining money and gave it to Hugo Selenski.

And he left.

[narrator] Michael's parents are frightened,

but their options are limited.

Initially, they don't go to the police.

They're in a bind.

They're thinking, "Okay, what do we do?

We're going to go to the police and say

that we've been in contact with somebody who says

that, you know, our son is on the lam.

We've known this.

Not only do we know this, but we're giving him money.

Are we going to get charged with aiding and abetting a fugitive?

[Jarrett] They were desperate and had nowhere to turn.

So there was a fourth meeting with Hugo Selenski.

[Gerard] The final encounter was down at a McDonald's

down in Luzerne.

Again, Hugo wanted more money, another $30,000, $40,000.

And he said, Michael needs more money.

Mr. Kerkowski told him, I'm not giving you any more money.

I believe my son is dead.

And Hugo looked at him and said, you have another son.

Your house could be on fire right now.

And Mr. Kerkowski said to him, I don't care.

I'm done with your BS.

I'm going to the police.

And he got out of that vehicle, slammed the door,

and brought this to the authorities.

Mr. Kerkowski even tells them,

this guy fired a bullet into the wall of my house.

Law enforcement goes to the house,

finds the bullet hole that Mr. Kerkowski

covered up with shoe polish so his wife wouldn't see it,

actually finds the bullet that was shot through the wall

into the back room of their basement,

adding credibility to Mr. Kerkowski's story.

So law enforcement is now saying Selenski either was involved

in the disappearance of Michael Kerkowski

or actually knows where he is.

[narrator] But investigators have no evidence

tying Selenski to the disappearances

until a convicted felon named Paul Weakley comes forward.

[Jarrett] Paul Weakley was from Michigan.

He began committing petty crimes and was arrested as a juvenile.

He eventually earned himself a 10-year federal sentence,

which led him to Lewisburg Prison,

where he met Hugo Selenski.

Selenski was released from federal prison

in January of 2001.

He committed to Paul Weakley that when Paul is released,

he can come to Northeastern Pennsylvania and live with him.

Weakley finds himself quite quickly

in the crosshairs of law enforcement

following a string of burglaries

that he committed in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

We were transporting Paul Weakley to jail one day,

it was probably after his third arrest

and we're stopped at a red light and Paul and I always talk,

and he posed the question,

do you guys have any unsolved homicides?

[narrator] Detectives never ignore information

about an unsolved murder,

no matter where it comes from.

He's in the back seat, and I looked in the mirror

"Well, Paul, if you haveú knowledge about something

you want to discuss thatúcould, you know, help us out,

maybe help you out,

your cooperation will be duly noted

with the judges down the road.

You have my word on that."

[narrator] Paul Weakley tells Gerard Satchney,

Michael Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett

aren't on the run.

Probably about two weeks later

is when he stepped forward through his attorney

and reached out to have an interview about these bodies

of Mr. Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett.

Weakly reveals to investigators that Hugo Selenski

had killed Michael Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett,

and that they were buriedú at 479 Mount Olivet Road,

Hugo Selenski's home.

[narrator] When police make their way

to Hugo Selenski's home to dig, however,

they don't immediately find anything.

At that point, the sergeant said,

"Get Paul Weakley out here."

So we drove him out.

Paul Weakley said, "Dig right there,"

pointed his finger near the back door of the residence.

The investigators then began

this slow, surgically precise process

of digging this area out,

sifting through the dirt, looking for evidence.

Weakley had said during the burial process

there was not enough dirt

to bury Michael and Tammy in that hole.

So he was travelling to a nearby garden centre

and had gotten potting soil and put that into the hole as well.

So as investigators dug, wouldn't you know it?

They discovered thisú potting soil in the ground,

not consistent withúthe natural dirt of that area.

After about a minute or two,

that's when you could see a white tip of the zip tie

protruding through the ground.

As they slowly dug more, you know,

the body of Tammy Fassett was present.

And then also underneath her was Michael Kerkowski.

[Lisa] They were showing it on TV,

and I said they found her.

I just dropped to my knees and threw up

while they were digging and stuff.

[news] Police found the bodiesú of Fassett and Kerkowski

tied with cables.

At 9 o'clock that night,

they finally came to my house and told me.

It was a wreck.

Any hope that we had in our house

um, had died that day.

The cause and manner of death was strangulation

due to the flex ties that were attached to the throat area.

The flex tie that was on Tammy Fassett was cut,

and that flex tie measured 2.75 inches.

That's the size of my little finger.

So you could tell how tight it was affixed.

Same with Michael.

Death was attributed to strangulation.

In addition to that, Weakly tells law enforcement

that Selenski was involved in the murders

of two Black drug dealers

whose bodies were burned, smashed,

and placed into a burn pit on Selenski's property as well.

The police discover a large amount of human bones

that were smashed and crushed and clearly burned.

In addition to that, they find three left mandible jawbones,

which investigators then concluded

there are the remains of at least three individuals

in that burn pit.

Two, the investigators ultimately identified

as Frank James and Adeiye Keiler.

A fifth victim has never been identified.

When they find all these remainsúof the minimum of five people,

it really does reframeú their entire investigation.

I think they begin wondering, ú is this a serial killer?

You know, how many people have been killed

on this property and buried here?

[narrator] But despite the discovery

of five sets of human remains buried on the property,

Selenski isn't immediately charged with murder.

Hugo Selenski was arrested that day, June 5th.

He wasn't arrested for the murders.

District attorney was uncomfortable

with the murder charge,

so he arrested himú on the extortion and robbery

of Michael Kerkowski Sr.

He was incarcerated at the

Luzerne County Correctional Facility,

which is located right in the city of Wilkes-Barre

the county jail,

where everyone goes until your sentencing.

[news] Take a look at this picture once again,

this is Hugo Selenski, theú man police are looking for

in this jail break in Luzerne County.

They are asking forú your help this morning.

If you see this man or seeú this man with anyone else,

You can simply dial theú number we all know, 911.

He escaped from a jail

that I think most of the people working there

would have thought was impossible.

He was on the top floor.

He amassed aboutú 12 different bed sheets,

tied them together, ú threw them out the window,

which he had managed to break open,

lowers this bed sheet down as far as it would go,

really not knowing how farú down that was gonna get him,

and then carried a very, veryú thin mattress on his back,

which he was planning toú use when he had to scale

this barbed wire fence.

Another inmate was with him.

His partner in crime here didúnot successfully make it down.

He was gravely injured.

[news] Bolton was found injured on the roof

of an adjacent building.

He was rushed to an area hospital.

Selenski, on the other hand, makes it safely to the ground,

carries the mattress, scales this barbed wire fence,

and escapes.

And this becomes just a national story immediately.

[news] Selenski, nowhere to be found.

A massive manhunt begins.

Boats take to the Susquehanna River,

dogs try to track down Selenski's scent.

[Gerard] It was a massive intensive search.

Law enforcement, K9 dogs, air, boats,

you name it, it was on national news, CNN.

It was a big deal.

It was a big deal because of all the prior press coverage

that you're dealing with a potential serial killer here

who now escapes.

Three days later,

he found his way back to 479 Mount Olivet Road,

contacted his attorney,

and negotiated a return to custody.

And the media was present, ú and it was a big event.

But this time, he was placed

at the State Correctional Institution of Dallas.

This is a maximum security prison,

housed 2,400 inmates and 400 lifers.

So he was placed in restricted housing,

which is otherwise known as "the hole",

it's a six by nine cell.

So he was there all up to the time of his trial.

[narrator] With multiple victims

linked to Selenski's property,

prosecutors bring the murders of Frank James

and Adeiye Keiler to trial first.

Central to the prosecution's case

is the testimony of Selenski's criminal associates,

Paul Weakley and another man called Patrick Russin.

Although those remains wereúfound on Selenski's property,

jurors were asked to take a leap of faith

when it came to believing

Patrick Russin and Paul Weakley.

Patrick Russin, he provides information

implicating Selenski and himself

in the shotgun slayings of James and Keiler.

And they didn't believe them.

In the end, they felt like they suspected

that Selenski was involved,

they just couldn't agree unanimously

as far as what level of involvement he had.

When you cast your play in hell,

you cannot expect angels as witnesses.

It's difficult as prosecutors to put forth witnesses

who are also criminals, who've also lied,

and ask jurors to take that leap of faith.

[Joni] He was acquitted of the murders

of these two small-time drug dealers

that he was accused of killing.

And ironically, and somewhatú hard to kind of understand,

he was convicted ofú tampering with their bodies

after the fact of burning them.

So it's kind of a puzzling verdict

when you have somebodyú convicted of burning bodies,

but you're not thinking

that they actually murdered the people.

[narrator] For abusing the corpses

of Frank James and Adeiye Keiler,

Selenski receives a sentence of just four years.

But with the homicide chargesúpending over the disappearance

of Michael Kerkowski and Tammy Fassett,

he remains behind bars,

giving prosecutors nearlyúa decade to build their case.

[Jarrett] Our journey started in March of 2006.

Nine years later, ú the case reaches trial.

So over the course of those nine years,

we had been up and downú through appellate courts.

Selenski had been through

a dozen or more attorneys on his defence.

We'd been through seven or eight judges

that handled the case.

And finally, after nine years,

we end up in January, 2015, finally at trial.

[reporter] How are you feeling?

I'm feeling well, thank you.

[news] Hugo Selenski said he was feeling well

as he left theú Luzerne County Courthouse

following the first day of testimony

in his double murder trial.

I think from looking atú those pictures of him,

to me it looks like somebody

who's really enjoying the attention.

[Lisa] I just thought he was a clown,

making a fool of himself.

Laughing and giggling, thatú smug smirk on his face,

I just wanted to wipe it off.

Actually, I wanted to take my stiletto heel

and poke it in his eyeballs.

Marisa, the Selenski trialú has finally started here.

This morning, the prosecution detailed a plot

they say Hugo Selenski hatched

to steal tens of thousands ofúdollars from Michael Kerkowski

by killing him andúhis girlfriend, Tammy Fassett.

[narrator] In the buildup to the 2015 trial,

Selenski's friend, Paul Weakley,

gives prosecutors a more detailed account

of what happened to Tammy Fassett

and Michael Kerkowski.

For the longest time,

Paul Weakley was cooperating with us

on certain aspects of the murder with Michael and Tammy

and other crimesúthat we weren't even aware of.

He admitted to his involvement, his participation.

But for some reason, he just did not come around

and be truthful about his involvement

with Michael and Tammy

until probably a year before the second trial.

The motive for this murder,

we determined, came down to money.

Follow the money.

Christina Strom, Hugo Selenski's girlfriend,

had purchased a house.

She wrote out a cheque for the amount of $10,000

as a down payment on the home, the property,

which involves six acres, the house, swimming pool.

The only problem was there was only $670

in her chequing account,

not enough money to cover this $10,000 cheque.

[Jarrett] Selenski goes to Weakley and says,

I got to get money from Kerkowski now.

This has to happen.

I have to get this cheque covered.

Weakley makes the decision that he's going to help.

They discussed they wereú going to kill Kerkowski

and take his body and create the impression

that he had fled law enforcementú and his legal troubles.

[Gerard] They arrived at the house,

according to Paul Weakley,

and Tammy Fassett happened to be present.

Went in, had some small talk, had a couple beers with Michael.

Finally, Hugo pulls out a gun

and shows it to Michael and Tammy.

And they're like, what are you doing?

Like, it's like horseplay, you know?

And Hugo said, this is no horseplay.

This is-this is the real deal, OK?

Paul Weakley, you know, pulled out the duct tape, the zip ties,

the hands, the feet, OK.

He escorted Tammy Fassett upstairs.

Ankles were zip-tied, wrists,

and then he applied the zip-tie around the throat

and strangled her.

That was pretty quick.

They took Michael Kerkowski down to the basement,

and he was interrogated

for the location of cash inside the house.

While he was being interrogated,

Paul Weakley had wrapped his eyes in duct tape.

[Gerard] They used the zip tie around the neck.

His eyes were covered with the duct tape.

And it was a matter of striking him in the shins

with a rolling pin, a wooden rolling pin,

which was normally kept in the kitchen area.

If he didn't respond, you know, the zip tie was placed tighter,

and he was hit harder.

He's beaten, and he provides the location of some monies,

but Hugo and Paul believe

there's a lot more money in that house,

and they want to acquire the combination of Michael's safe,

which is also in the basement.

Weakley takes the wire cutters he brought out

and disengages that wire tie and continues to interrogate

Kerkowski at that point.

When he doesn't give it up, they re-engage another wire tie.

This time, Kerkowski falls over, and it's engaged so tightly

that it fractures his hyoid bone internally, and he dies.

I remember the first time Paul Weakley was recalling

those events to me.

And we were preparing for a trial.

And he discussed the torture and murder of Michael and Tammy

like he was ordering a sandwich in a deli.

During his torture and interrogation,

Michael Kerkowski said there was $100,000

at his father's house

and that he had given his father that money.

And that's the very money that Selenski had gone

to Mr. Kerkowski and shook him down for.

[narrator] Before Selenski's trial,

Paul Weakley takes a plea deal

for his involvement in the murders

and is sentenced to life in prison.

There were several times when he made the statement,

"I want to clear the air and get this off my chest,"

and sometimes it just didn't play out that way

until finally he said that's the only thing

that was left was the truth.

[narrator] And on February 11th, 2015,

after two and a half weeks of testimony

and two days of deliberation,

the jury finds Hugo Selenski guilty

of the murders of Michael Kerkowski

and Tammy Fassett.

After a day and a half of jury deliberations,

a jury has convicted Hugo Selenski

on eight of the ten counts he faced,

including first degree murder

of both Michael Kerkowskiú and Tammy Fassett in 2002.

Selenski also found guilty of two counts

of conspiracy to commit aú murder and robbery charges

for both Fassett and Kerkowski.

I remember when that verdict came in,

standing with our team and the investigators

and knowing that Mrs. Kerkowski and Lisa

were in that courtroom too.

Um, and I'm not ashamed like, my eyes teared up,

and I could hear tears

hitting the wooden table below me.

These cases are notú supposed to last that long.

You know, to have been a part of something

this horrible for that long,

and then to hear the verdictú you sought was emotional.

It was closure, and it was gratifying

to have been a part

of getting justice for Lisa,

Lisa Sands and her family and Jerry Kerkowski and her family.

He got what he deserved.

What he took from us can never be replaced.

And when we have to go see her, úwe have to look at a headstone

where his family can goú to the jail and see him,

which isn't fair to us.

When we heard the verdict, I think I was more relieved

that I didn't have to live that nightmare anymore,

but it still sits in the back of your mind,

all the things that you went through

and all the stuff that you've heard,

all the pictures that you saw.

But other than that, I felt relief and overjoyed

that they found him guilty on two counts of murder.

[narrator] Selenski is sentenced to two consecutive life terms

without the possibility of parole.

And the judge says Hugo Selenski

will never walk in this community again.

He's been sent to states prison.

[Lisa] It really was inhuman what they did

to both Michael and Tammy.

I would not wish that on my worst enemy.

What stands out to me is the amount of evil

and the evil behaviour that was involved,

you know, from a human being directed at other human beings.

It's kind of hard to fathom.

Some people just don't belong in society

and he may very well be one of them.