Trained to Kill: The Dog Trainer, the Heiress and the Bodyguard
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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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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.
What made you think it was Mark?
Because it was his hat and his jacket. He opened the door to the car, looked at the front windshield, grabbed something off the front, and then just tore, like literally tore down the driveway.
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.
I can only describe it as evil. Something horrible, something terrible. I knew something bad had taken place.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who is Mark Stover and why is he called the Dog Whisperer?
0:00–1:19
2
What unusual events occurred before Mark Stover went missing?
1:19–8:55
3
What was Mark Stover's childhood and early life like?
8:55–11:25
4
How did Mark Stover become a renowned dog trainer?
11:25–16:01
5
Who was Linda Opdyke and how did she meet Mark Stover?
16:01
6
What signs pointed to foul play in Mark Stover’s disappearance?
3:26–10:18
7
How did Mark's family describe his personality and career?
10:18
8
What mystery surrounds the relationship between Mark, Linda, and Michiel?
3:26–30:53