Oh my god. Last time anyone seen her is last night around 10:30 >> 10:00, 10:30 Yeah. Never thought in a million years I'd be the one. This is Natalie and she has just discovered her mother in her bed with a kitchen knife in her neck. You You see it? Yeah. She's still gurgling, man. She's cold, though. I saw her briefly and I started throwing up. Like I said, I didn't Oh my god. And then my car is gone. First officers thought it was a burglary gone wrong, but something [music] about the scene didn't make sense. It was as if the knife had appeared out of nowhere. No struggle, no noise, no sign of anyone entering or leaving. But the more they spoke with the victim's daughter, the clearer [music] it became that this was no random break-in at all and it was carried out by someone who believed he was fulfilling a prophecy. He always would say he's going to kill me and Jay. We're next. He was mumbling that last night when we walked in. Can I ask you something straight up? Did you take out Rachel? It's Wednesday morning, May 27th, when Ohio police receive a 911 call from a distressed woman reporting what she believes is a burglary that left her mother severely injured. Caller? Yeah. Yeah. Are you the one that has the knife in their neck? No, but my mom she's not breathing. Dispatch all units 57 B. East KB 908 East KB subject is not breathing. Stay on the phone with me, okay? >> [clears throat] >> Caller, do you know who did it to her? Oh my god. No. >> Okay, I've got an ambulance on the way, so just stay on the phone with me, okay? Dispatch immediately sends officers racing to the address. They arrive prepared to save a victim, but instead, they walk into something that would seriously shock them. Where's he at? Where at? >> My mom. >> Where at? Ma'am, where at? Excuse me, where at? >> Over here. Okay, move, move, where at? Natalie's mother, 71-year-old Rachel Cheney, lies in her bed already cold to the touch with a kitchen knife driven deep into her neck. Upstairs in Natalie's bedroom, her boyfriend Jonathan is found unharmed. Go back here, okay? Sure. In the car? You have got anything on you? Just my money and stuff. She's still gurgling, man. She's cold, though. Well, when when I pulled up, so then we went in there, and I went to give first aid cuz I thought she just got stabbed, but no, she's cold, and then so we continued to search the house and found that dude upstairs bedroom with the door closed. So we detained him and pulled him out here. I saw her breathing and I started throwing up. Lady's stabbed in the neck. I said she's cold. Yeah, good. Found her inside on her on her bed with a knife sticking out of her neck. Do you know Elderly. Elderly. Who is the girl that they just took out of here? The daughter. How did she find her? Yeah. Her mom and her and her boyfriend were They were both upstairs sleeping, I guess, and she came down and she's cold to the touch. And then she Blood's all dried. So she's been there a Yeah. It's a big knife and it's in deep, so >> Okay. Barely could be self-inflicted. >> kitchen knife? Yeah. Oh my god. >> Last time anyone seen her is last night around 10:10 >> 10:00, 10:30. Asked if you wanted a tacos and then you guys went to sleep. Okay. And he was sitting out here. >> Yeah. Whose house is this? >> Mine. But she just recently put it in my name, so Okay, so it's your house? Well, I don't have a phone. Do you give us consent to search this? Yes. Okay. Oh my god. And then my car is gone. What strikes officers as strange is that nothing inside the house appears stolen and there are no signs of forced entry anywhere. The only thing missing is Natalie's car. With no evidence of an intruder, detectives can't rule anyone out, not even Natalie or her boyfriend Jonathan. At this point, everyone inside the home is a possible suspect. If someone within the household was responsible, detectives need to find out who and more importantly, why. Natalie and Jonathan are both secured in patrol vehicles and are driven to the station for further questioning. Detectives need to hear their accounts if they're going to piece together what really happened inside that house and how it ended with Rachel [music] dead. Meanwhile, additional units begin searching for Natalie's vehicle. What the detectives don't yet understand is that they already hold half the puzzle to Rachel's murder and the other half is closer than they realize. Soon, detectives will sit down with the man at the center of it all to see first hand how delusion can twist murder [music] into something almost justified. But detectives still don't grasp how close they are to uncovering the truth. To get there, they need answers from Natalie and Jonathan, the only two who can shed light on what really happened inside that house. When they arrive at the police station, they're separated into two different rooms and their interviews begin simultaneously. This way, detectives can ask them the same questions and see if their stories match. I CANNOT BELIEVE I CANNOT BELIEVE I woke up to something like that. That is horrible. She's all I had. I went downstairs this morning. What time was this? I know it was maybe close to 8:00. Because I didn't check on her then. So, I figured she was asleep because usually she calls me. So, I stayed upstairs and it was dark and I seen this stuff on her face and I thought, "What is that?" And I turned on the light and there's this big knife sticking out of her neck right there. So, I didn't go in there anymore. And then I walked outside cuz I needed to get some air. >> [laughter] >> And then I noticed my car is gone. I was going to make some coffee. I was sitting out there, sitting on the porch, and she came down and said somebody killed her mom. We didn't realize the car was gone until she called 911. She was like, "Oh my god, my car is gone, too." Okay. I didn't hear anything this morning. I'm a pretty light sleeper. Plus, the dog's there. Right. [music] Detectives can't rule out Natalie and Jonathan just yet. They seem genuine, distraught even. But, with no forced entry, no other suspects, and them being close relatives, the possibility still lingers that they could somehow be involved. But, then in the middle of her statement, Natalie remembers something. Something she hadn't even thought to mention before. Along with her car, her brother Joseph, who also lives in the house, is missing. In her panic over finding her mother, she hadn't realized it until now. And that's when the case suddenly takes a very different turn. With Joseph and Natalie's car missing, detectives shift focus, pressing Natalie about her brother's behavior. Your brother, he has You don't >> schizophrenic like 8 years ago. Yeah. Um he used to go to the FBI. Mhm. There's somebody in the FBI and um they didn't believe him, I guess, and he let it go for a while. And he went up back up there. I think he had one of his like little fits, whatever, and they handcuffed him and I think they took him to St. Rita's or Columbus cuz he was in Columbus, the mental hospital, >> Sure. for about a week. How long How long ago was it? About 6 months ago, you said? Longer than that? >> 8 years ago. >> 8 years ago, okay. And he was on the tape and he never took them. Okay. >> He says he don't need them. Do you know what else he's been diagnosed with? Um no. I barely know him. He's just He's He's always talking off the wall stuff like related to Dillinger, this person, that person. >> [clears throat] >> Just He's just out there. On more than one occasion, Joseph had gone to the FBI with his mafia delusions, episodes that eventually landed him in a mental facility. But when doctors evaluated him, they concluded nothing was wrong and released him almost immediately. Without medication or treatment, his condition only grew worse. And even though Joseph was missing along with his sister's car on the very same day as his mother's inexplicable murder, detectives still don't know what to make of this and are unsure about his involvement. To them, he seemed more like a victim of his own illness, someone failed by the system. But then, Natalie says this. The only thing she ever asked him was to take her up and down the stairs so she could go places. That's all she's ever asked him. It was all on me all the time. He He didn't tell He always would say he's going to kill me and Jay you guys are going to kill us and he has a knife. Knife? Okay. What kind of knife does he have? Like a pocket knife. And he always carries it? Okay. Natalie reveals something disturbing. Her brother Joseph had repeatedly threatened to kill her and the rest of their family. If he was behind his mother's death, it would explain why no one heard an intruder enter the home and why he fled in Natalie's car. Suddenly, everything begins to make sense. The missing vehicle, the strange stabbing, the lack of forced entry, and the brother with untreated schizophrenia who'd been making violent threats. Police don't know it yet, but what seems like a certain murder charge for Joseph will soon become a far more complicated case than they realize. Luckily for detectives, the patrol unit searching for Natalie's car make a breakthrough. They've located her car and pulled it over without incident. And behind the wheel is none other than her brother, Joseph Chaney. He's taken into custody without resistance and brought into the station for questioning. Now considered the prime suspect in his mother's murder. We'll put that back there with him. All right, and why is that Joseph and I know Martha and Arthur. I know who all three of them are. Stabbed him. His eyes and neck are like that. He has his lines on neck. I gave him He has a one that bagged me up trying to kill the mother. I'm not [ __ ] I don't like them either. I'm not liking them. 46 stab wounds to you guys got a preference? I think they usually want to go in there. How about right here, bro? Here, I'll turn the light on. From the moment Joseph steps out of the patrol car to be escorted into the station, officers and notice he's already mumbling and rambling incoherently. At first, detectives think it's just an act, a tactic to seem legally insane. But as they begin interrogating him, it quickly becomes clear something is deeply wrong. So, tell me what's going on. I I heard you you were walking around downtown. >> Oh, I always take walks cuz I get bored sitting at home. My family used to own the bar that was in the Olivers and they used to be Maddox's back in the day with the O'Donnells and Spike O'Donnell bar downtown. Mhm. How are you related to them? Well, I'm related to Joseph Claudia Maddox from the 1800s. I believe he's my great great great uncle. I was saying he worked for the Cav lines and Al Cav line and the Chicago outfit and everything. As soon as the detective starts talking to Joseph, he begins referencing mafia names, people like Al Capone, Spike O'Donnell, and Frank McErlane from the old Chicago gangs of the 1920s and 30s. It's the first clear confirmation of what his sister had told them, that Joseph suffers from hallucinations and schizophrenia. [music] To the detective, those claims aren't important and instead, he smoothly shifts the conversation towards what really matters, the details of Rachel's murder and how Joseph might be involved. What was going on last night, anything major? Nothing. Just a just a lot of aggravation and dead weight hanging around. Explain that to me. Just a bunch of old people that I don't like and they're claiming they're claiming to So, they weigh you down and your kids down and they rob you every day. But, the problem is they got big and sons and daughters than you and me >> [music] >> and everything. If you really want to know, there's a lot of clingers walking around in Allen County here lately weighing down the youth RAs. I mean, you're still young and stuff. Like say, if you got divorced and want to start over, you should be able to start over no problem. It's the god damn clingers walking around and it is affecting everybody. Would you call her a clinger? Yeah, she's pretty much a clinger. She can't stop showing up people's houses. Neither can her god damn daughter. Who's her daughter? I think they say it's Natalie. I mean, Natalie. I always thought it was Natalie, but whatever. Okay. The only thing to do to get rid of them is what they used to do. Tell them they just shoot them in the heads and they throw them in the god damn burners. And they just say Okay, they just do a sheriff and police and state troopers and mob and street cover up. And they just get rid of them. Another [ __ ] Damn. Hopefully, you don't think I'm a clinger. No, not really. Joseph refers to his mother and sister as clingers. To the detective, it's a clear sign of deep resentment. Evidence of a family conflict that may have escalated the night before. So, he decides to confront Joseph directly asking what really happened that night. Did you talk to Rachel last night? No, I I think I brought her up to Ravenel. I put her I helped her in bed and that was it. I was in the car. What time was that? I don't even remember. Whose car were you in today? I guess that's Natalie's car. Natalie or however you spell her name. I mean, I don't know. Did she let you take the car? No, I just took it. Where'd you find the keys at? They were on the kitchen table. Okay. What time did you leave the house with car? I don't remember. What daylight? >> 1:30 to 2:00. In the morning? Yeah. There's been problems all my life with my family, back and forth with whose kids are whose, who's better than who. Your dad was who who outranks who. Yeah. Well, my mom always says change My mom always says Well, supposedly she's my mother, but I don't know if she's my mom. She might be my crazy aunt from down the street who goes around popping people in the head with a [ __ ] bowling ball and [ __ ] What's her name? I think it's I think it's Rachel, but they I they used to call her Rachel with an E A with an E A L. You get along with her, right? Not really. I mean, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. She's a massive control freak and everything and she drives people crazy. I don't know if she does it on goddamn purpose How old is she? >> or she on a brain twister. How old is she? I don't know how she Oh, she's probably in her 60s or 70s. Despite his mental illness, Joseph is [music] completely cooperative with the detective, calm, open, and not trying to hide a thing. Seeing that, the detective takes the chance to ask the one question that matters most, if he had anything to do with his mother's death. Joseph's answer is exactly what the detective suspected, but his reason for it is deeply unsettling. I'm going to not beat around the bush with you cuz I kind of like to get to see what the person's like. That's why we have this conversation, we talk. Somebody ended up dead at your house last night. I think you know that. I think you pretty much had enough from what I've seen here. I kind of like you. You're kind of just tell it straight as it is, you know? You just say, "Screw it. I don't care if anybody likes it. This is how I feel." I'm kind of like that. >> [music] >> Okay? Have you ever taken out a clinger? I might I might have I've out a few clingers in my life. >> When's the last one you took out? >> I don't know. It's been a while. I bet it's been >> Sometimes I help out family members and I piss them off and I don't even know because they got machines and gadgets that they use and brain twisters and cockers. Yeah. And they shove them right up and they hook them up to your goddamn brain. You got a gun? No, I don't have a gun. Oh, well then you didn't take care of that clinger. >> I might have took care of a few clingers back when I was a kid. >> Oh, I was talking about last night. >> There is There's 8 9-year-olds and 10-year-olds that they train in Chicago and California all day long and they pop them up on steroids. And and they the ones that arrested me and all those big muscular tattoo Yeah. They shoot them in the heads all goddamn day long and laugh at them. Who would it Who would it wanted to >> [music] >> get rid of Rachel? Everybody wants to get rid of her. She a bad clinger? She's a bad clinger unless they're using her for money and Why doesn't anybody ever have the nuts then to step up and take care of her? >> [music] >> I well, one reason I'm on a goddamn cook machine and a brain twister. Okay. So So that I would have killed her years ago. I sometimes I think she loves me and then then she's then she I don't know. Like like an animal or something. Uh-huh. And they're really big. She created crimes on me and my family if you really want to know. >> Uh-huh. I'm kind of tired of the crimes created on me and my family. Why didn't someone take out if so many people want to get rid of Rachel? Why didn't someone step up and do it? She might have a more powerful family than what you think just being a Miller. Mhm. Related to the Miller and all Youngers and all of them and Jesse James. Just being a Miller's powerful enough. Can I ask you something straight up? Did you take out Rachel? >> [music] >> Yeah, I did you guys a favor. I did the whole family a favor the Millers and the Youngers and the Jesse Jameses. How'd you do it? I did it with a knife right in her head. If I had a pistol, I would have shot her. I'll be honest with you. I was planning on uh killing her by having her pass away and head over to New York or Chicago to check on my family and get out of here. I got a question cuz with a knife, that's >> [music] >> personal, especially to the head. Uh to be honest with you, I didn't do it with a gun or anything. I did her a favor if you really want to know. What do you mean? I did you a favor. I did a lot of mothers around here favors. I mean, how do you think you did us a favor? I I don't know what that's why I'm asking. >> Because it's it's just a nuisance of a thing running around and stuff and everything and she's in misery all the time and pain. And and delusional, so I did her a favor. Did you eat? Have you eaten yet today? No. >> You want some food? Yeah. Okay. You got your chew, right? Let me run get this for you real quick. >> All right, bud. You take care. I'll be back. I just want to I wanted to get you some food cuz I know it's lunch time, okay? >> They they want you to They want you to I'm not crazy or anything. I'm not stupid. >> I'm not saying you are. That's why I went straight forward with you. I'm trying to be straight forward with you guys and the ones that think they're better than everybody else. They want you to clean off this battleship deck. Well, that's not what I'm doing. I want to get you some food because I know you got chew. I know you've been out and about, haven't slept a whole lot, and I'll get you some food so you can eat. All right, bud. Okay? No ulterior motive here. I already You already told me that you killed her, so what else do I need from you? You know what I mean? If I killed her, I could have been dreaming that there cuz they smoke weed around me and now they could have went around killing people cuz she's high all the goddamn time with Jay. Well, you you knew exactly how she was killed, so and Well, that's how I'm going to figure out. >> I'll get you your food. Joseph admits to killing his mother almost instantly, claiming he'd done something good, even suggesting he had done the police a favor. In his mind, his mother had committed crimes against the family. His delusional reference to the gangsters he believed he was related to. In a heartbreaking confession, one that might have been prevented if Joseph had received proper treatment for his schizophrenia. [music] But, years earlier, doctors had released him insisting nothing was wrong. His condition only worsened, feeding his delusions and ultimately leading to [music] his mother's murder. After his arrest, Joseph pleads not guilty by reason of insanity and [music] he's transferred to a secure psychiatric facility for evaluation and treatment. Doctors there are tasked with determining whether Joseph is mentally competent to stand trial and whether he truly understood his actions at the time of the murder. It would take more than two years of psychiatric care and evaluation before doctors finally deemed him competent enough to face prosecution. Once restored to competency, Joseph Cheny was charged with two counts of murder and one count of felonious assault. [music] He later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.