Shocking twist in unsolved murder case: Twin sisters start podcast to track down their father's killer

Twin sisters from Missouri have contributed to a decisive breakthrough in their father's unsolved murder case – 35 years later, police have now announced an arrest.

Andrea Lynn and Angela Williams want to find out who killed their father, Jimmie Wade Martin, who died on October 14, 1989.

Martin was fatally shot in the head during a bar fight at the Coal Bin Tavern in the eastern Missouri town of Bon Terre, and the killer fled without a trace for decades.

“I want the truth,” Williams told KMOV. “We can't go anywhere without someone asking, 'Do you know who killed your father?'”

But last month, the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Drug and Crime Control Division arrested a suspect – 69-year-old Wesley P. Marler. He denies the charges.

Jimmie Wade Martin (pictured) was fatally shot in the head during a bar fight at the Coal Bin Tavern in the eastern Missouri town of Bon Terre, and the killer fled without a trace for decades

“I want the truth,” Williams told KMOV. “We can't go anywhere without someone asking, 'Do you know who killed your father?'” (Pictured: the girls with their father as children)

His arrest came after Martin's daughters reopened the case in 2017 and investigators reached a dead end.

They became citizen detectives, returning to the crime scene to search the bar for clues and interviewing nearby residents.

One of the key interviewees was David B. White – a man who was first arrested and charged with murder in 1989.

The case against White was dropped after three years, just days before his trial was due to begin, when police apparently realized they had caught the wrong man.

In 2017, Lynn and Williams met with White, who gave them some of the evidence police had provided him about their father's case.

Williams said the files were an eye-opener for him. Her first challenge was convincing law enforcement that the case was worth reopening.

“We felt so alone. We had no way forward. We had all this information but didn't know where to turn,” Williams told KMOV.

In response to the family's efforts, police finally reopened the case in December 2020.

At this point, the twins' cousins, Shawn Martin and Chris Hulsey, joined the mission to track down the killer. They proposed launching a crime podcast in 2022.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol's Drug and Crime Control Division arrested a suspect last month – 69-year-old Wesley P. Marler (pictured). He has denied the charges

Twin sisters Andrea Lynn and Angela Williams (pictured together) wanted to find out who killed their father, Jimmie Wade Martin, who died on October 14, 1989.

In 2017, Lynn and Williams (pictured together) met with White, who gave them some of the evidence police had given him about their father's case.

At the “Small Town Forgotten” event, Hulsey interviewed other family members who presented the evidence they had collected.

“I've known this story my whole life. I remember my mother telling me what happened,” he told KMOV.

“I didn't know much about Jimmie before,” he added. “I was four years old when he died. Now I feel like I know a lot about him.”

Missouri State Highway Patrol Lt. Donnie Crump said the podcast convinced investigators to reopen their investigation.

“Would we be here without the podcast? Absolutely not,” Williams told KMOV.

Then last month the police made a breakthrough with the arrest of Marler – the family hopes that this is the first step towards solving the case that has remained unsolved for 35 years.

Lynn and Williams said the arrest fits with their own investigations and rumors in the city.

They said their emotionally turbulent investigation also had an unexpected bright spot when they heard the same thing from townspeople when they asked them what Martin valued most in life.

“Every single one of them said family,” Williams said. “How ironic is it that his family are the ones who worked so hard to get justice for him?”

The twins' cousins, Shawn Martin and Chris Hulsey (pictured), joined the mission to track down the killer. They proposed launching a crime podcast in 2022

The Missouri State Highway Patrol's Drug and Crime Control Division arrested a suspect last month – 69-year-old Wesley P. Marler. He has denied the charges

Marler was indicted by a St. Francois County grand jury on August 22 on charges of first-degree assault.

He pleaded not guilty at his first court appearance and was subsequently held on $500,000 bail.

Marler will next appear at a bail reduction hearing, where his attorneys will argue that his bail should be revoked because he has no plans to run away.

But there are questions about why prosecutors are bringing first-degree assault charges rather than murder. Perhaps it's because it's easier to prove.

But Martin's family is mostly relieved that the long-awaited breakthrough has finally been achieved in this decades-old murder case.

“It took a long time,” Williams told KMOV.