Mark Stover was a talented dog trainer, better known as the dog whisperer of the Pacific Northwest. He was charismatic and attracted the attention of wealthy blonde heiress Linda Opdyke. They built a business together, along with a marriage. But Linda said Mark also had a dark side and when she tried to leave the marriage, he obsessively followed. She sought the protection of a security expert Michiel Oakes who soon became the new love of her life, her knight in shining armor. But when blood was found in Mark’s home and he was reported missing, detectives went looking for Michiel. In this dark love triangle, just who was the hunter and who was the hunted? If you liked this episode of Trained to Kill, you can listen to the next episode of the series here: https://link.podtrac.com/wka6fu8r To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who is Mark Stover and why is he called the Dog Whisperer?
Hello, listeners. It's 48 Hours correspondent Peter Van Sant. Today, I have a special episode to share with you from my new podcast, Trained to Kill, the dog trainer, the heiress, and the bodyguard. You are about to hear the bizarre story of celebrity dog trainer Mark Stover, who was known as the dog whisperer of the Pacific Northwest.
He trained the dogs of the rich and famous with clients including music stars, athletes, and top business executives. But this story isn't just about a dog trainer. It's one of obsession, control, and murder. Here's the first episode.
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Chapter 2: What unusual events occurred before Mark Stover went missing?
I remember being woken up early in the morning by a hellacious barking.
It was 2009, three days before Halloween, a time when the boundaries between the living and the dead become blurred. Stephanie Poore said the dogs next door were going crazy. And they were upset and it was loud.
What did you think to yourself when you were lying in bed listening to that?
something was going on over there, and I wanted to get some more sleep, and I was going to have words with Mark.
Mark was Mark Stover, Stephanie's next-door neighbor and her boss. Stephanie was a dog trainer at Mark's facility in Anacortes, Washington, an island community about 80 miles north of Seattle. He had built a successful business working with the dogs of the rich and famous and had earned the nickname the Dog Whisperer of the Pacific Northwest. That morning, Stephanie made her short commute to work.
She assumed Mark had already left to meet a client in Seattle.
And I'm on the phone leaving a message with him and he's in the driveway. The car is in the driveway, parked up by the house. And I'm thinking, wow, that's weird, because he really, he's probably going to be, you know, a little antsy because he would have rather been gone by now.
Mark had a reputation as a bit of a pit bull, intimidating and impatient.
I saw who I thought was Mark. going into the house, coming out of the house, putting stuff in the back of the hatch.
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Chapter 3: What was Mark Stover's childhood and early life like?
Show me the motion again with the stick. A handler releases the dog.
The dog sprints and bites hard enough to lock onto Mark's leg, which is covered in padding. And a tug of war ensues between the growling dog and Mark. Mark commands the dog to stand down. Right away, the dog lays on the ground looking straight ahead and awaits the next command.
I just thought he was so incredibly interesting.
His niece Julia, Victoria's daughter, said Mark sometimes expressed his love for dogs in eccentric ways.
You know, he has this beautiful Porsche 911 and a BMW, and then he has this car called the Dog-A-Lack, the Cadillac. And I swear, half the textile of the carpeting in that car was just dog hair that had woven itself into it.
She said it smelled horrible. But one day, they went for a drive.
And instead of taking the Porsche or the BMW, he takes me in the Doggle. And he said he didn't want his neighbors to know how rich he was.
But Mark didn't start out rich at all. In fact, just the opposite. And his upbringing was far from easy.
We went through, our family went through a series of losses early in our childhood. Just seemed to be one after another.
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Chapter 4: How did Mark Stover become a renowned dog trainer?
Their mother's second marriage also then fell apart.
And so she remarried again, and he was an alcoholic. Life at home was tough.
Mark struggled in school. According to Victoria, the family didn't know how to help him.
He got kicked out of high school for smoking dope. I think he was 16. Yeah, he was on a bad path.
And then their mother's third husband died of cancer.
We were broke. Our family was broke, and there was a funeral. And at the wake, family friends brought a German Shepherd puppy for a gift at the wake, which is such an odd choice.
The German Shepherd puppy was named Gunter. While maybe odd, the gift would be a godsend.
I've never been able to talk to them and ask them what prompted them to do such an odd thing. But Mark and that dog bonded that very day.
Mark got in touch with the family's old vet. He encouraged Mark to join the Washington State Search and Rescue Canine Unit.
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Chapter 5: Who was Linda Opdyke and how did she meet Mark Stover?
Chapter 6: What signs pointed to foul play in Mark Stover’s disappearance?
Then Stephanie went up to the house to the bathroom. As she walked up the driveway, she saw tire marks from the car and some spots of blood on the gravel. Stephanie assumed that the blood belonged to Ding, Mark's guard dog. Ding recently had surgery.
I explained it away that Ding must have ripped her stitches out, out here.
The blood wasn't the only sign something was wrong.
I could smell the bleach before I even opened the door.
Stephanie stepped inside. She noticed a bedroom door that was usually never shut was closed. And as she went into the house, Stephanie saw three big spots on the floor. Did they have a color?
It was blood. It was red, dark, dark red.
Stephanie was worried. She kept calling Mark, but he never answered. Stephanie hoped the blood was from Ding's surgical wounds. She was doing her best to avoid imagining the worst. But the next morning, when she came back to work, she was startled to see Ding sitting by the back door.
She was on all fours and she was growling. Something had happened to her. Maybe she had had a stroke. It was obvious one eye was in a horrible mess. We couldn't find Mark. I was calling him. I left a message, Mark, we're really concerned. Where are you? You know, why is Ding here?
An unsettling feeling hit Stephanie.
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Chapter 7: How did Mark's family describe his personality and career?
Chapter 8: What mystery surrounds the relationship between Mark, Linda, and Michiel?
Then Stephanie went up to the house to the bathroom. As she walked up the driveway, she saw tire marks from the car and some spots of blood on the gravel. Stephanie assumed that the blood belonged to Ding, Mark's guard dog. Ding recently had surgery.
I explained it away that Ding must have ripped her stitches out, out here.
The blood wasn't the only sign something was wrong.
I could smell the bleach before I even opened the door.
Stephanie stepped inside. She noticed a bedroom door that was usually never shut was closed. And as she went into the house, Stephanie saw three big spots on the floor. Did they have a color?
It was blood. It was red, dark, dark red.
Stephanie was worried. She kept calling Mark, but he never answered. Stephanie hoped the blood was from Ding's surgical wounds. She was doing her best to avoid imagining the worst. But the next morning, when she came back to work, she was startled to see Ding sitting by the back door.
She was on all fours and she was growling. Something had happened to her. Maybe she had had a stroke. It was obvious one eye was in a horrible mess. We couldn't find Mark. I was calling him. I left a message, Mark, we're really concerned. Where are you? You know, why is Ding here?
An unsettling feeling hit Stephanie.
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