All language subtitles for Cabin in the Woods S01 E02_track3_[eng]

Mount Baldy's 35 or 40 miles
from downtown Los Angeles.

It's about eight miles
up to the top.

And then there's various cabins
strewn about the mountains.

You might not have
cell service.

You might not see
a neighbor for days.

Judy and Marcia wanted to move
to the mountain for a quieter

kind of life.

Unfortunately, that just
didn't happen.

These strange events have been
plaguing the cabin.

How can anybody
in their right mind do this?

There are bad people in
the world

that have ill intentions,
and it's just tragic.

It was probably about 6:30, 7.
It was still light, summertime.

I was up on top of
Glendora Ridge Road,

because there's a big, vast area
that had been bulldozed

to put houses up there.

I was walking my dog.

My dog ran loose,
and I was running after him.

I ran into these two women,
and they had my dog,

and I was like, "Oh, thank you
for getting him."

Judy Gellert was in her late
40s, and Marcia Johnson was

a bit younger,
in her late 30s.

Marcia was the more outgoing,
gregarious type,

where Judy was a little bit more
shy, a little bit quieter.

The neighbor had rented them
that little space.

They had their trailer parked
up there for a while,

and I don't know how long.

They just seemed nice,
and I thought

maybe we could be friends.

Judy Gellert and Marcia Johnson
met in the late 1980s in

a substance abuse
rehabilitation center,

where they were both
seeking help.

The two developed
a close friendship.

And as
their relationship deepened,

they developed
a sexual relationship

and ultimately became partners.

They were able to get
sober together.

Judy secured a position as
a substance abuse counselor

while Marcia was working in
computer programming.

And they begin a life of
their own, really, a future.

Judy and Marcia spent about
ten years traveling in

an RV together.

They had lived in a number of
places around California.

And by 1998, Judy and Marcia
had settled on a campground

near Mount Baldy.

In the 1990s, it wasn't
the same as now.

Gay couples didn't have
the same comfort level being

open and honest
about their relationships.

In moving to Mount Baldy,
they were probably hoping to

escape the outside world
a little bit.

The first time they met,
Judy and Marcia were telling

Kerri how they really wanted
a permanent home.

The thing is, real estate on
Mount Baldy is pretty hard to

come by because
the residents don't leave.

They stay there.

Kerri said, well, it just
happened to be good timing

because she knew of a cabin
that was for sale.

And the cabin was being sold by
71-year-old Jack Irwin.

Jack had lived on the mountain
several years.

His cabin was like a mile up,
this little road that wasn't

well maintained.

Jack was a Korean War veteran.

He was a loner
and was very frugal.

He was the type of guy that
slept on a cot.

He had one knife, one fork,
one plate, one spoon.

Very minimalist.

What actually led him to being
up on Mount Baldy,

he didn't say,

other than the fact that he did
like to be alone,

and that's a good place to
be alone.

Once in a while, my husband
and I would have Jack down for

dinner because he has no
relatives, and no friends

as far as I know.

He didn't talk a lot,
but he would sit and just be

with our son.

He was a very private person.

I'm thinking that there was
more to his life that

he never talked about.

He loved his cabin,
and he kept it immaculate.

But Jack was having a harder
time as he got older.

You look at the cabin,
and it's got to be heated by

chopping firewood.

As he was aging,
that was becoming

more and more of
an issue.

He was looking for a little bit
more comfort.

Marcia and Judy had met Jack
and asked if they could

buy the cabin.

When newcomers come onto Mount
Baldy, they're greeted with

a little bit of skepticism.

They are regarded as outsiders,
and I think it takes a while to

kind of penetrate that wall.

He wanted to make sure that
the people who were going to

buy his cabin
could be trusted.

And they felt this need to
impress Jack.

They would meet up at the store
and pick up mail together.

They tried to do the best
they could for him.

You know, be part of his life.

They were only in Jack's life
for a few months,

but they became friends.

And then Judy and Marcia began
to spend more and more time

with Jack.

He had these two people
who were interested in him,

and he liked that.

Early on in 1999,

Jack had told me that Marcia
and Judy could hone in on what

was going on in the village
and what the people were like.

Jack really believed that
they would take care of

the property, and that
they would fit in with

the community as well.

He sold the cabin to Marcia
and Judy, gave them some great

terms, and should've been a very
wonderful life for those two.

Jack moved to a home about
a half an hour down

the mountain in a suburban town
called Upland.

It was at the base of
the mountain where he could

still have the beautiful view,
but enjoy, I think,

more creature comforts.

Judy and Marcia saw Jack quite
frequently still.

Material things were not
important to him,

But that cabin,
that's what he loved.

He was so insistent every day
going up the hill

to check on it.

There was one day I was hiking,
going down by the cabin,

and I hear this
heated argument.

And Marcia was saying,
"I'm sorry, Jack, I'm sorry."

And Jack, I couldn't make out
what he was saying.

There seemed to be something
about this cabin

that Jack wouldn't let go of.

They were fighting,

and then it stopped.

I heard the car start up,
and so I watched

Jack's car drive by.

And he drove on down
the mountain,

and I called Marcia.
I said, "Is everything OK?"

And she said, "Oh, yeah, it was
just a misunderstanding."

I didn't know what to think.

This really piqued
the curiosity of the neighbors,

because all of a sudden,
they're hearing arguments,

and there's a tension.

And I think everybody was
wondering what in the world is

going on with these three.

Well, it turns out, prior to
the sale of the cabin,

Jack didn't realize
they are a gay couple.

This was a real change
and a surprise.

Marcia and Judy had said that
was not something that Jack

could handle.

I mean, long back in
the '40s and the '50s,

it was something you never
talked about.

And he was very much against
them being in that situation.

So he was verbally
not nice to them.

And then, kind of cut it off
at that point.

He left and never returned.

By the end of the summer,
Jack's trips up the mountain had

come to a complete end.

I had called Jack to
Thanksgiving dinner at

our house a month or so
ahead of time.

I kept calling,

and I couldn't get in touch
with him.

We always were in contact,
and with not hearing from him

for days and days and days,
it was not like Jack.

Mount Baldy is a community of
people that all knew each

other, and if you don't see
somebody, you check on them.

I had put a sign of Jack
missing on the front of

the post office.

Everybody up there has
a PO box.

So they would come in
and ask about Jack.

When Marcia and Judy came into
the post office, I asked them

if they had seen Jack.

They did acknowledge that it
had been some time since

they heard from Jack.

And there was definitely
some question.

Sometimes you just get
a feeling, or an aura

about a person.

And I had such a terrible
feeling that he was in danger.

And I said, well, you need to
call the police.

On October 3, 1999,
the Upland Police Department

received a call from
Marcia Johnson,

reporting Jack Irwin missing.

And she said she lived in
a cabin on Mount Baldy.

So after the initial report was
made, one of our police

officers responded to her home
and got some additional

information from her.

When the Upland Police
interview Judy and Marcia,

the pair describes
a relationship in which

they are very close with Jack.

But by the end of the summer,
the relationship between Jack

and Judy and Marcia
began to change.

He came to the cabin,
but Jack was very

rude and belittling.

Despite the tension there,
they explain that they really

care for Jack very much.

And they wanted the police
to find him.

There's no crime involved in
being a missing adult.

There's no obligation to
contact your friends or family.

Our objective is to find out
that the person is safe.

They go search
the Upland house.

There was nothing in the house

that showed that there was any
foul play.

Didn't seem like there was
anything out of the ordinary.

Jack had no relatives here in
California, no phone,

no credit cards.

We had spoken with other people
from Mount Baldy, and they all

indicated that he didn't make
a lot of money, but he had

a lot of money.

He bought the house in
Upland for cash.

And the other thing is,

Jack didn't hide it.

They said that it was not
unusual for him to pull

his wallet out
and tell people,

"I'm OK. I've got plenty
of money."

They said that he just spent so
little, that it accumulated

over his life.

So certainly there was
a possibility that Jack had

actually gone off in some city
because he had had

the resources to do that.

He could have taken a vacation,
and he is where

he has chosen to be.

We put out
the national feelers.

We've contacted
the LA County morgue.

There's no unclaimed bodies
that match his description.

There is nothing to indicate
where Jack might be.

So they felt that
Jack was still alive,

out there somewhere.

So his information was in
a national computer system

where any law enforcement
officer in the country were to

run his name, we would
be contacted.

Marcia and Judy knew that Jack
simply didn't want them there.

They were trying to build
a quiet nest for themselves

where they felt
comfortable being in

their open relationship.

Being alone in
a mountainous area,

there aren't a lot of
people around.

While that might have
a beautiful side,

it also has a very dark side.

It would be very
difficult if somebody were

in trouble up there.

You just wouldn't really hear
somebody yelling,

screaming,

unless you were
right there witnessing it all.

Just by the nature of living in
such a place like Mount Baldy,

without having company,

or without there being lots of
people around,

you can become an easy
and likely target for a crime.

There had been a burglary.

A computer and a lot of
material things were taken out

of the cabin.

The Sheriff's Department in
San Bernardino County came out.

The police did not have
any witnesses.

There's no signs of
forced entry.

There's no forensic evidence.

They believed that the person
or persons who committed

this crime could be from
inside the community.

And that brought up all these
questions about Jack.

I thought about when Marcia,
Jack, and Judy were

fighting outside.
Jack was obviously upset.

That whole thing was weird.

Jack disappears
and nobody sees him.

Nobody knows where he's at.

And then the cabin
is burglarized.

It was possible that Jack
wasn't missing,

and, or decided he wanted to
come home to his cabin.

Marcia and Judy felt afraid
for their safety.

And at that time,
they decided it was time to

pack up and leave.

And they gave me
their phone number and said,

"Don't give this
to anybody else.

We're gonna be staying
with some friends."

Anytime somebody leaves,
you always let your neighbor

know, "Hey, I'm going to be out
of town for a week, keep an eye

on my cabin."

So I said I would keep an eye
on their cabin when they left.

In Southern California,
peak season for wildfires is

late summer and into
the early fall.

The fire happened in
August of 2000.

I ran up the street to see
what was going on...

...and I see this plume of smoke

and it was just black.

It was a terrible fire.

The fire department from all
different counties were there.

The community was saved,

and so we were very lucky.

Nobody was inside the cabin.
Nobody was injured.

Unfortunately, the cabin
was destroyed.

Just a shell of a house.

The insurance company hired
a private fire investigator.

But this wasn't the result
of a wildfire.

The fire came from the cabin.

When I talked to the fire
inspector guy that day,

after the fire and everything
was out, and he did his,

you know, report,

and he told me that there
was an accelerant.

I thought, oh my god.

So that kind of leaves only one
thing, and that being arson.

Judy and Marcia would have to
be asking themselves, "Why us?"

That made me very scared.

Because anybody starting a fire
up here, it'd be like starting

a fire in their own backyard.

That could have spread
real quick.

I can never

imagine someone doing that.

It was evident that someone
didn't want them there.

And at that time,
Marcia and Judy decided it was

time to leave Mount Baldy
for good.

And so they moved to
the Alpine area.

Then they started a new life.

Jack has been missing for over
a year and a half.

And the Upland Police
Department had really

hit a wall.

These strange events that have
been plaguing the cabin where

Jack Irwin used to live.

There had been
a break-in, a burglary.

And then shortly after,
there was a suspicious fire.

And the police think that these
crimes are connected to

Jack's disappearance.

We made a decision as an agency
to bring in the San Bernardino

County District Attorney's
Office to investigate further.

Morey Weiss was already up on
the mountain, and so he wants

to see the remains of this
cabin that's at the center of

all this controversy,

to look for any piece
of evidence,

no matter how small.

I went to the cabin alone.
It was a mess.

It was burned.
It was really burned.

There was a deck on the front
of the house, and there was

a storage area underneath that.
I found a box

that the fire investigator
didn't say anything about.

When Morey Weiss unlocks this
box, the investigation went in

a direction that was much
more sinister.

Morey Weiss was down where
Jack's cabin had burned down.

There was a box

that was sitting outside.

I'm not sure how long
it had been there,

but there was a number of
different types of

paperwork in it.

And I remember going through it
and thinking that we may be

starting to look for something
a lot more detailed.

Before he went missing,
Jack had signed a trust that

named Marcia and Judy as
beneficiaries and also gave

them power of attorney.

There's every reason to believe
that Jack

voluntarily, and with knowledge
signed the power of attorney

knowing exactly what he was
doing, which was empowering

Marcia and Judy to spend
his funds to support

and benefit him.

I went to the neighborhood.
I started talking to neighbors.

Everybody in the mountain knew
who Jack was and there were

a lot of things that came out.

That really started to light
things up.

After Jack made them his power
of attorney, he was complaining

to me that the girls had never
made a payment on the house.

Both Judy and Marcia had
declared bankruptcy.

So the arrangement they had is
that they would pay him $582

a month for ten years, at which
time Jack would turn over

the title of the cabin to them.

But in eight months time,
they had only made two payments

to Jack, and he
wanted his money.

Then I saw new cars parked up
at the house.

They had bought a new Jeep
and a new Corvette,

a new motorhome.

I mean, these women,
when they first came to town,

really didn't seem to
have anything.

And so when you started hearing
that they were buying all these

things, that made us wonder,
OK, where is Jack's money?

I was able to write
a search warrant for

the banking information.

And I just started putting
spreadsheets together that had

each transaction

and where it went
and what it went for.

They took Jack's money,
and they immediately spent it

on big purchases--

a Corvette, the Jeep Wrangler.

After that, there were multiple
withdrawals from Jack's account

to Marcia Johnson.

She's taken another $7,500.

Then she's
taken another $10,000.

And she kept on just taking
more and more and more

until she took it all.

And that led them to me,
and Sergeant Bobby Dean.

This is very shocking that
these two women thought it was

appropriate to purchase these
big items as Jack's trustees.

So at that point, I called
Marcia and Judy and said,

"OK, what in these expenses is
for the benefit of Jack Irwin?"

Marcia said they had spent
a lot of Jack's money buying

computer equipment because
she and Jack intended to start

a computer business, and that
she bought that Corvette to

take Jack to
and from the doctor.

It's something that
we didn't believe.

Marcia or Judy
made a statement.

"We're on the trust.
We didn't do anything wrong."

This was
trade fraud, theft.

They were just there to take
advantage of him.

I had had some elder abuse
cases in my background

that I'd worked.

I told them the attorneys were
reviewing the matter,

and I would be in touch with
them to let them know if there

was a decision made to file
charges or not.

It's difficult for Morey
at that point because he can't

dispute Marcia and Judy's
statements to prove that those

withdrawals were
not authorized.

We've just gotta find Jack.

Jack was very conscious
of his money.

He knew how much he had.

And if his money was missing,
he was going to be knocking on

somebody's door to find
out why.

And we suspected that Jack put
the pressure on Judy and Marcia

and wanted to retaliate.

I learned about the burglary.

I knew about the fire.

These crimes went unsolved.

They could never find out
who the actual

perpetrators were.

That made us wonder if they had
anything to do with Jack.

At that point, Bobby looked at
both Chris and I.

He said, "This would be a great
case for a telephone wiretap."

A wiretap on Marcia and Judy
could elicit some statements

that would reveal
more information.

This has to be authorized
by the courts.

And once it's granted,
investigators will use

a strategy that we call
"tickling the wire."

Every three days, we were going
to initiate some type of

contact with Marcia and Judy

when Marcia and Judy
are separate.

They're not aware
they're being recorded.

We didn't have a warrant.

I had a charging letter from
the District Attorney.

I was parked right around
the corner from her house

in Alpine.

So I just drove right around
the corner, knocked on

the door, and handed
her the letter.

There were a number of charges.

Grand theft, fraud,
elder abuse.

On that charging letter,
it said that they needed to

surrender themselves to
the court in two weeks.

I got back in the car and left,
and she's on the phone to Judy.

Marcia, she was pretty shook up
about the whole thing.

We were hoping to get more
information as

the wires continued.

At this point,
the investigators turn up

the heat on Judy and Marcia.

After they had moved from
the cabin and were living in

Alpine, Judy had been working
at the California Department

of Corrections.

The whole place was
run by cops.

Me and my partner,
Detective Perez, went down

and seized her car,
astounded her.

"What do you mean?
What are you doing?

Why can't you do this
someplace else?"

It was all the plan.

We knew that that was going to
require a phone call,

because now Judy needs
a ride home.

You try to give them anxiety,
because people that are anxious

make mistakes.

On the ride up to get Judy,
Marcia called her aunt.

We were monitoring the wires,

and I was in the office when
the call came in.

I was in the office, and one of
my detectives called me

and said, "Hey,
you got to hear this."

Marcia Johnson indicated that
she'd killed Jack Irwin.

It was like, wow.

It wasn't like Marcia and Judy
took all his money in one day

and left and took off.

They did it over
a period of months.

And that would lead trained
investigators to say,

they knew he wasn't going to
come back.

We hoped that
she would turn herself in.

Did we believe it?
No.

At that time, the team decided
to make the arrest.

She was cooperative.

The main thing she wanted to
get across was

Judy had nothing to do with it.

Judy had nothing to do
with this.

By the time we get back to
San Bernardino,

it's two, three in the morning.

In the interview room,
she just

lets it all go.

The reason Jack went to
the cabin was because he was

not getting paid.

And there was an argument.

It's really quite remarkable
how matter of fact she was.

It's really one of the most

cold-blooded things I've seen
in 33 years of police work.

She took all of these body
parts down to various parts of

the mountain where she was
discarding them.

We spent many days up and down
the mountain, but it was so

vast without having
an exact location.

It's like looking for
a needle in a haystack.

No part of his body has ever
been found.

How can anybody in their right
mind take a chainsaw,

fire that thing up,
and cut somebody up?

I mean, I-- I-- that
to me, is just...

...sick.

And then her attitude
afterward, it's like,

I can do whatever I want.

And in addition to confessing
to Jack's murder, Marcia admits

that she set fire to the cabin.

She burned the cabin down to
make it look like that

they were victims.

Marcia also reveals that this
burglary that supposedly took

place in July of 2000,
it never happened.

She had hidden the things that
she reported as being stolen.

It was done for the purposes of
getting insurance money.

Between the money from Jack,
insurance claims,

everything they got

came out to around $470,000.

Marcia was charged with murder

and 34 other counts.

She was found guilty of murder,

arson,

grand theft, grand theft
auto, insurance fraud,

elder abuse, and false report
of a burglary.

She was sentenced to life
without possibility of parole.

The District Attorney's Office
had determined that they were

going to use Judy Gellert as
a witness against

Marcia Johnson, and that
she would get a plea deal.

Judy knew about the money.
She was there.

She spent it too.

She was part of
the whole thing,

so I was very upset
about that.

She only wound up pleading
guilty to one count of

receiving stolen property.

She was sentenced to 180 days
in jail and restitution in

the amount of $150,000.

When I heard that Marcia
had been

arrested for Jack's murder,

It was something that
I couldn't believe happened.

People in the community all
knew that Judy and Marcia

were a couple.

And nobody put them down
because of that, not even Jack.

The investigation revealed that
Jack was very fond of

Judy and Marcia.

Jack had told me that
they had said that

they were family to him.

They were very convincing,
and I don't think

he doubted them.

It was all about money,

and he was easy pickings
to them.

I just think that's the worst
thing you can do to an older

person, because all
he wanted was friends.

They tried to be

like they cared about him,
and they were not people that

cared about him at all.

There are bad people in
the world that have

ill intentions.
And it's just tragic.

I was privileged to know Jack.
He is godfather to our son.

He was very much
a part of our family,

and it wasn't just us.

It was a community that loved
Jack and missed him.

More than anything, I remember
the love he gave to us,

and that'll never go away.