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Chapter 1: What shocking discovery did hunters make in the swamp?
Down here is where the hunters had discovered the torso of a female in the ditch.
Jack, had you ever run into anything like this?
No, ma'am.
What day were you out here, and what do you remember from that day?
This was December the 2nd of 2022, I believe. We was hunting that block of woods that particular day. We all kind of thought it was a mannequin to start with. It didn't look real. And this area right here and all around this is where all the trash, the bags of clothes, the tote, the knife, that's where all that was found right here.
And your big priority was to find the rest of this woman and find out who she is?
That's correct.
It was getting about dusk. I started walking and got to a point where I'm looking up and the sun's going down. It's shining in my eyes and there's an oak tree and I kind of look behind it and I see a little disturbed area, a mound. All the remains were found fairly close to the edge of the road. And at that point, as far as what we knew, there was the female had dark brown hair.
You put out a sketch? GBI had had a forensic artist put out a sketch.
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Chapter 2: How did the investigation reveal the identity of the victim?
He dealt with sensitive cases involving Afghanistan. He definitely had an air about him of confidence, of You know, reassurance, but never in an egotistical way, because you could sort of pick that out from a mile away. Heather and Nick got married in 2009. Back then, she was a brunette. Was he wearing a uniform? Yes.
He was in his uniform. I was in, I had two different dresses. It was a very big deal. It was a, it was a happy day. He had a lot of friends and he just knew everyone and he had a very outgoing personality and just was a talker and loved to read and just was, it was very different than kind of how I, I was.
Things started out well, but eventually, after six years, their marriage faded. I felt like we had grown apart.
I felt like he was my best friend, but at the same time, didn't have the romance.
And in 2015, they divorced. Nick Kasotis bounced back quickly. That same year, he started dating Mindy. She was working as a legal secretary in Washington, D.C. Mindy was the consummate romantic for a while there, right? Angela Wynn and Morgan Paddock were longtime friends of Mindy. Angela says Mindy met Nick on a dating app.
When she finally did meet him, that was just her fairytale ending coming to fruition.
Even Heather was happy. He told me all about it. He was so excited that they met. And I was excited for him. Nick and Mindy married in 2016. Her friends say the couple soon started looking for a home and planning a family. It's one of the things that she wanted. She wanted to have kids. And Mindy became a podcaster. We both were on her podcast.
Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Compelling Women podcast. She just wanted to find the stories of women and elevate them. I'm Mindy, your host, and I'm really excited to share with you another thought-provoking interview with a different compelling woman.
Mindy and Nick's life seemed good. After leaving active duty, he was still practicing law.
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Chapter 3: What led to the suspicion of Nick Kasotis in Mindy’s death?
And I told him that several times, like, I need to see it. I need to see her. I need to see her.
She tried to reach Nick again and again.
He just dropped off the face of the earth. It was a very hard and confusing time.
At around the same time, Nick's ex-wife Heather had also gotten a message telling her that Mindy had died in the hospital. I was contacted saying, hey, you know, Mindy's dead. What was your reaction? Horror. I was just like, oh my God.
I felt terrible because no matter what our beef was, Nick and mine, like to hear that a woman around my age is now dead, I was sad.
And just weeks after that sad news was still sinking in, Heather received more surprising news. in a text from an acquaintance. This person says Nick is dead. Nick Kasotis had died in a car crash. And I said, hmm. So you didn't believe that then? I immediately didn't believe it. I'm like, well, something's fishy here. But Heather wasn't the only one who heard that Nick had died.
Mindy's parents received an email from the security department at the tech company where Nick told them he was working. It read, I'm very sorry to inform you that Nicholas passed away late Wednesday evening. As Heather tried to get more details, Googling news sites online, she came across that police sketch, the one that looks so much like Mindy, and called authorities in Georgia.
That helped police make a positive identification. And once they got a DNA and genetic genealogy confirmation, they finally had proof that the woman found in the swamp was indeed Mindy Kasotis. Once they figure out who she is, all of these things that they've been learning about the evidence found at the scene all ties in. Investigators could find no evidence of Kasotis dying in a car crash.
What they did find was a new driver's license in a new name, Nicholas Killian James Stark. They tracked him to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he was now living with a third wife, a tech worker and fiction writer, Samantha Koleysnik. He had told her he was a widower. In May 2023, detectives brought Kasotis back to Georgia for questioning.
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Chapter 4: How did Mindy’s life change after marrying Nick?
No, absolutely not.
Then what about that knife cradled under his arm? Because Soda said it wasn't about murder. It was for home improvement, a broken screen.
I was having a very hard time keeping the netting on it and keeping it secured up there. So I was looking for something that kind of long and thin.
What is Nick's strongest defense?
His strongest defense is it's entirely circumstantial. There was zero evidence presented at trial of how Mindy was killed and, frankly, how where Mindy was killed. They don't know.
Attorney Weinstein closed his defense with this reminder to the jurors.
The state has an incredibly high burden to meet because they have got to show guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. They haven't done that. They just, they just haven't done that.
As the trial wrapped up, the mystery man, Jim McIntyre. Can't find a person that doesn't exist. Never appeared in this Georgia courtroom. I submit to you, there is no Jim. He killed her. He took her from everyone. A bright light. Kind. Good natured, I submit to you, Mindy, she deserves your attention. This case is about her.
Look at the evidence and come back with what is the only appropriate outcome. Guilty of all charges. Nick Kasotis and his attorney had hoped to convince the jury that he wasn't capable of killing his wife, Mindy, but somebody else was.
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