The Death of Kathy Wangler

In Lima, Ohio, Dr. Mark Wangler (51-years-old) and his wife, Kathy (48-years-old) went to church together that morning. Early the next morning at around 5:00 AM, in their home on Yorkshire Drive, Mark was awakened by the carbon monoxide alarm blaring from their basement.He went upstairs to check on his sleeping wife. Mark found her unresponsive and in the middle of a seizure.

At 5:17am, he called 911 and started CPR. Mark told the 911 operator that the carbon monoxide detector had gone off and his wife was having a seizure. He told the operator that he was going to do CPR and then, he was heard counting and saying, “She’s not coming around!” Within the hour, 5:54 AM, Kathy was pronounced dead at the hospital.

For Part One, click here!

On the night of September 3rd, Mark had been sleeping in the first floor master bedroom, and Kathy was sleeping on the second floor in Aaron’s old bedroom on a blow up air mattress. Mark says his survival was based completely on luck. He said that earlier in the day, Kathy had caused the master bathroom toilet to overflow, so he had opened the window and turned on a fan in an attempt to air it out. (Later, police would also note a wet spot on the floor and a “sulphur-like smell” in the master bathroom.) Because of that, Mark had been exposed to fresh air, but Kathy was upstairs in a small bedroom with the door closed.

When the alarm went off and Mark was making his way through the house, he said that he was woozy and disoriented. He was nauseated and threw up at some point. He called 911 and started CPR. Mark says that at the hospital, the emergency team worked on Kathy for only 6 minutes before declaring her dead. He called his sons Nathan and Aaron who say they could barely understand what their father was saying, he was so upset.

Mark was questioned at the time but was never charged with anything. His belief or assumption was that the hot water heater, that ran off natural gas, had malfunctioned. According to Mark’s brother in law, the hot water heater was in a closet and did not have proper ventilation. The police did a forensic examination but found no issues with the water heater itself. People who knew Kathy did not believe that Mark was behaving appropriately for a “loving and grieving husband.” He was known to be a very stoic person.

As a very spiritual man, Mark turned to his church to help him heal from his loss. At his church, Mark reconnects with an old friend, Esther Irkman. Mark and Kathy had frequently spent time with Esther and her husband, so Mark and Esther had known each other for years. They were not romantic at first, but they had both lost their significant others and were able to support each other.

Esther is a psychologist with a PhD and was divorcing her husband who had recently decided to become a woman. They soon began a more romantic relationship and ended up falling in love. Esther said, “He’s my anchor and I’m the wind in his sails.” Together Esther and Mark helped each other move forward, and 14 months after Kathy’s death, Mark married Esther. They were obsessed with each other and their religion.

People were suspicious that Mark and Esther had actually been in an affair before Kathy’s death. Esther thinks this is preposterous and said that Mark wouldn’t even hold her hand until her divorce was final.

At this time Mark thought the case of Kathy’s death was closed, but he would be wrong. It had never been closed and investigators and others on the case were suspicious about the coincidence of the window and fan in Mark’s room. They were also concerned about the 911 call and Mark’s behavior and tone. They were very suspicious of why Dr. Mark needed to be told by the operator to check Kathy’s breathing and pulse.

While Mark and Kathy’s sons never doubted their father’s innocence, Kathy’s mom and siblings knew Mark was responsible. The general consensus was, he was a man trained in putting people to sleep, of course he could do this. Esther said she would know if she had been living with an evil genius. She’s a psychologist, she thinks she’d be the first to know. She also noted that Mark had been a practicing doctor for about 30 years and had never lost a patient or been sued for malpractice.

INVESTIGATIONS, TESTS, AND TRIALS OH MY!

Sarah (Kathy’s mom) said that Kathy is dead because of money. In fact, in 2007, 4 months after Kathy died, her family became so frustrated with the police investigation stalling that they decided to take things into their own hands. They pretended to believe Mark and get close to him while also keeping notes of everything he said and did. From fake crying, to getting rid of all of her things, to changing his story about her death, to his not wanting to be buried beside Kathy, and not caring where she was buried.

Kathy’s sister, Joanne wrote about a joke Mark made in the limo on the way to the gravesite. He made a joke about people dying to get into the cemetery. Sarah called the sheriff’s department to let them know that since they haven’t been returning her phone calls, she and the family were going to the media. The sheriff’s office assigned Clyde Breitigan to investigate. He went out and interviewed a bunch of people (he said 80-85 interviews) and learned about the trainwreck that was the Wanglers’ marriage. Breitigan said that Kathy and Mark were “equally evil” to each other and would do things simply to piss the other off.

In the renewed investigation, they determined that the “faulty” hot water heater theory didn’t hold water. The house had been examined and tested after the incident and nothing in the house had been found to be malfunctioning. Breitigan was also personally puzzled by Mark’s lack of anger after his wife died. Breitigan says that if it had been him and his wife had just died because there was an appliance that malfunctioned, he would be furious with someone (Who installed? Did they install it incorrectly? Was there a recall on anything? etc…)

Some people thought it was interesting that a man who had gone to med school to learn to be an anesthesiologist had a wife who’d been gassed.

When asked if he knew a lot about carbon dioxide, Mark claimed that it doesn’t really come up in his line of work. Mark’s medical partner called this out as a lie. He said that actually Mark Wangler was a “master with gases” and was trained in the old school techniques of anesthesia where they use gases and carbon monoxide was definitely something he knew a lot about. The investigators noticed that the Wanglers had plenty of sources of carbon monoxide in their garage: 2 cars, a generator, a snowblower, and a lawnmower as well as a large camper and another car parked in the driveway.

It was thought that the gas traveled through the house in their duct work, but Mark’s defense attorney, Chris McDowell thought this was bologna.

McDowell pointed out that the hoses in the Wangler house were typical hoses found around a typical house. He noted that the garden hose was tested and was clear. He was also adamant in Mark’s innocence because he believed it would have been impossible for the gas to travel from the 1st floor garage downstairs to the furnace in the basement because of gravity. That Mark would have had to unscrew about 12-16 screws in order to open the furnace and introduce the gas.

Breitigan got a search warrant that allowed him to get sections of the duct work removed from the home and tested for microscopic exhaust residue. The lab determined that “something had been introduced at a high rate of speed over a short duration of time.” Lab testing later determined that the soot in the duct work was consistent with soot in engine exhaust. Chris McDowell thinks that is ridiculous, because he believes that, if this had been the case, Mark would have been found dead beside the furnace.

Other professionals tested the house for carbon monoxide directly after the incident. Cledus Hawk II aka “Hawk” a local firefighter, entered the house after Kathy was taken to the hospital. He went to the basement to measure the CO levels. His first reading in the basement was 50 parts per million (ppm) which is considered “low.” “Mid” is 51 ppm to 100 ppm and “High” is greater than 101 ppm, if no one is showing symptoms and “Dangerous” is greater than 101 ppm with people exhibiting symptoms according to Carbon monoxide Levels that Sound the Alarm.

After this reading, he left the house to get protective gear on. When he returned the level was 35-30 ppm. At approximately 6 am, he closed all the windows in the house and waited until about 7:10 am to measure again. At this time, the levels were 15-20 ppm in the basement and 20-25 ppm in Kathy’s room. Then he went back to the basement and tested near the appliances. All the appliances were giving readings of about the same levels throughout the basement.

Also on the morning of Kathy’s death, Jan Zuber, a customer service representative from Old Dominion Gas Company came to test the house and attempted to locate a source. Zuber closed all the windows and doors and ran the furnace and water heater simultaneously. She then measured the CO levels throughout the house while they were running. Her highest reading was 3 ppm. Zuber also checked the furnace and water heater for malfunctions and found nothing. She did note a code violation on the water heater for the height for the flue outside the residence.

All the appliances were also checked by another professional that day and found to be in working order with no unsafe CO levels detected. This professional also noted the code violation with the flue not being high enough. Three years after Kathy’s death, Dr. Mark Wangler was arrested and charged with her murder. Mark said that he felt sick at this, but he took comfort in the church. It would be another year and a half before the trial started. Mark maintains his innocence, but Kathy’s family is convinced he killed her.

In the beginning of the trial, the prosecution presented a scenario in which Mark was deeply obsessed with his religion and couldn’t consider a divorce that would cause him to lose his standing and reputation in the church. Not to mention that a divorce would cost him a great deal of money.

The defense claims that this is really a case of a poor police investigation. During the trial, the prosecution played the 911 call and all eyes were on Mark and his reaction. He was obviously upset with his fist to his mouth, head down, and eyes tight. Lead prosecutor, David Walden claims that Dr. Mark Wangler shouldn’t have needed the 911 operator to insist that he check Kathy’s breathing and heartbeat. However, McDowell points out that Mark was also breathing the carbon monoxide, and his brain was being deprived of oxygen.

Chief Joseph Kitchen was the first person on scene the morning of September 4th and testified at trial. After being escorted to the room where Kathy was, Kitchen said he found Kathy laying with her top half on the air mattress and legs on the floor. He moved her off the air mattress to start CPR. Walden points out that Mark wasn’t having difficulty walking or talking and was able to relay information to the police after they arrived. Walden thinks that the CPR attempt was all an act, because Kathy was most likely dead before Mark called 911.

The doctor that saw Kathy in the emergency room testified that her body was cold and Kathy seemed to have been dead much longer. In fact, forensic pathologist, Dr. Diane Scala Barnett, (who had performed over 8,000 autopsies) testified that Kathy died 1 to 2 hours before Mark called 911 based on Kathy’s body temperature, lividity, rigor mortis, and evaluating her stomach contents.

Mark and Kathy both had their carbon monoxide levels checked. Mark’s level was 17% at the hospital, whereas Kathy’s was 70% at the time of her autopsy. According to carboxyhemoglobin charts online, at 17%, Mark would have been experiencing headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, fatigue, and blurred vision. At Kathy’s level, seizures, cardiac arrest and ultimately death are triggered.

McDowell addressed the medical records in court. He pointed out that there were discrepancies such as Kathy’s body temperature. In one place it was documented as 94 degrees and 95.5 degrees in another place. In one report, Kathy had been intubated and in another she hadn’t because of rigor (“fixed mouth and stiff neck”). Dr. Rina Stein testified to the fact that Kathy’s neck was stiff, and her mouth was difficult to open. She said Kathy’s skin was pale and cool to the touch.

There are various articles about how long the body takes to cool down from its standard 98.6 degree temperature after death, assuming the beginning temp is in fact 98.6 degrees. If we use the standard 2 degrees in the first hour and then 1 degree each hour thereafter and we assume Kathy’s temp was 98.6 to begin with, we are looking at Kathy having been dead 3-4 hours by the time she arrived at the hospital and was pronounced dead which was less than 40 minutes from the time of the 911 call.

Pictures of the house were shown to the court that were focused on the vent in the room where Kathy slept. Above the vents, on the wall, there were marks that appeared to be soot marks. Supposedly, this was from the exhaust being blown through the vents and getting on the wall. It was also said in one source that Mark closed all the vents in the house in order to direct the exhaust to Kathy’s room. However, Aaron testified that those marks had been there for a long time. That used to be his room and he remembers them from before he left for college. He said he really didn’t clean his room.

Nathan also testified that the family used a lot of candles, and that there were places on the walls all over the house. Unfortunately, the police were never able to test these stains, because Mark painted the walls in the months following Kathy’s death. At the autopsy, Kathy had no soot in her lungs or airways. Dr. Barnett said that there was pink foam in Kathy’s lungs that indicated she was struggling to breathe.

Most damning of all were Mark’s own journals. Sarah told the police that Kathy mentioned that Mark woke up every morning and wrote in his journals. She wanted the police to search the home for those journals and they did. Mark’s journals were read aloud in court…

“Lord, Satan has found a weak area to attack me: my marriage and family”
“5 things I have asked Kathy to improve, but has not: Keep the house – cook, clean, make bed. Lose weight – she has gained around 80lbs in the past 20 years…”
“I feel judged and rejected by Kathy….Kathy thinks I am boring in bed….Kathy doesn’t really listen to me…I do not trust Kathy…I feel picked on and put down…”
“I am sensitive and I tend to keep anger inside until I explode”

Mark said that the marriage counselor they had been seeing told him to write down his feelings and to be brutally honest. Over time, the journal entries turn almost sinister…

“Sometimes I feel rage. I feel trapped with no escape. I pray that I can endure life. Please cast Satan and his demons attacking me out from my life for a time”

Kathy’s family thinks that Mark had started to see Kathy as evil, and he believed that Satan was working through her. They theorized that Mark believed he did what God wanted him to do. Mark’s journals even talked about his suicidal thoughts and how he had considered taking his own life…by using car exhaust… Then in his September 1st entry, Mark wrote.

“Dear Lord, I place our marriage on your altar. Please act in a powerful way.”

3 days later, Kathy was dead. In November’s journal entries, Mark writes.

“And I prayed for God to act in a powerful way that night. Little did I know that 3 nights later our marriage would be changed forever.”

Sarah thinks Mark was thanking God that Kathy was dead.

While the prosecution had this circumstantial albeit damning evidence, they hadn’t yet explained to the jury how the carbon monoxide got through the house or what was used. There were theories, sure, but no one had proven how he had been able to pull it off. During final arguments, prosecutor Janet Emmerick talked about Mark’s behavior the morning of Kathy’s death. Specifically, she talked about how after everything, Mark went into his house to take a shower. She postulated that, if you thought that your wife had just been killed by a faulty hot water heater as Mark had – the LAST thing you’d want to do is go back in there and take a shower.

Emmerick dissects the 911 call calling it “staged” and “phony.”

The defense addresses this as well saying you can clearly hear the panic in Mark’s voice. McDowell also points out that the prosecution still never explained how Mark supposedly introduced the carbon monoxide into the vents. He also pointed out that even though carbon monoxide is odorless, car exhaust is not. There were no fumes from exhaust in the car at that time. Kathy’s mom and siblings believe that Mark thought he had committed the perfect crime. Aaron wants an acquittal and stands behind his dad.

After 2 days of deliberation, on March 28, 2011, the jury returns with a verdict: Guilty of aggravated murder.

Judge Richard Warren fired shots at Mark saying, “You violated the 10 commandments. ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ You also violated the Hippocratic oath. ‘First, do no harm.’”

Esther and Mark’s son, Aaron, refused to let this be final. They claim the investigation was “cruel” and “biased.” Esther says they are going to keep fighting this. Mark will be eligible for parole in 25 years, when he’s 80 years old. They are appealing his conviction.

In her attempt to exonerate her husband, Esther has been interviewed numerous times. She claims that there were things the prosecution didn’t turn over, and they didn’t test Kathy’s lung tissue. Esther is also adamant that the jury didn’t understand all the information presented at trial nor did they understand their instructions of “beyond a reasonable doubt.” The jury’s makeup was also questionable, according to Esther. These were people from the community who were well aware of the case and all a part of the gossip and rumors. Esther said the change of venue request was denied. To add to that, in order to file their appeal, they need the court transcript. However, the person responsible for typing it all up happens to be the wife of the lead detective on the case. This woman claims it will take 6 months to type the transcript, but according to Esther, in neighboring counties it takes about 2 weeks.

In 2012, an appeal was filed that claimed the evidence found during searches of the Wangler home were obtained with “unconstitutional search warrants”, the court had allowed testimony from State’s experts they shouldn’t have, and didn’t allow testimony from the defense’s experts. Another claim was that, “Dr. Wangler was denied a fair trial as a result of numerous discovery violations that denied him material evidence.”

Wangler had exhausted his state appeals and submitted an appeal to federal court. Wangler’s appeal claimed that his journals should never have been submitted as evidence. While the appellate court agreed that the journals should not have been admitted into evidence because they were “illegally seized” due to the search warrant being written for computer files, the court said that the admission of the journals was not damaging. They didn’t overturn the conviction.

In this appeal, Wangler also claimed that the expert for the prosecution that testified about the soot in the duct work should not have been allowed. According to the appeal, this expert tested the duct work years after the death of Kathy Wangler. Wangler’s team tried to present an expert that would testify that the material in the duct work was actually from candles. However, the judge limited the expert’s testimony.

Another claim was that witnesses who heard Wangler make certain comments should not have been allowed to testify.

Finally, Wangler’s current team is claiming that the previous team did not challenge the evidence enough leading to ineffective assistance of counsel. This appeal was rejected and the judgement was upheld. Since this appeal, the Sheriff of Allen county, Sam Crish has been indicted for taking bribes. The Free Mark Wangler Facebook page claims that Crish asked Mark Wangler for $50,000.