BLAME

9Wants To Know
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  • TRUE CRIME
  • SERIES
BLAME

BLAME is a true-crime, investigative series by 9NEWS in Denver, Colorado. Learn more at 9news.com/blame. Season 2, "BLAME: Lost at Home," is a mystery about a man who was found more than a year after he was reported missing, dead in his own home. The first season focuses on the death of Jill Wells. Her son, only 6 years old at the time of her death, was blamed for shooting her. If you have something for us to investigate, email blowthewhistle@9news.com.

  1. EPISODE 1

    Episode 2: Nobody Investigated It

    An unintelligible start to a 911 call begins the short and incomplete investigation of the death of Jill Wells. There are very few official records created in the case. A two-page police report. Crime scene photographs. Several recordings, including the only two interviews with the only witnesses to the crime, Mike Wells and his son Tanner, the 6-year-old boy blamed for shooting his own mother. Mike Well’s interview lasted less than a minute. The interview with Tanner took place with the boy on his father’s lap and lasted 1 minute and 31 seconds. But those who responded to the scene say something that wasn’t recorded that day has lingered with them all of these years. Doubt.

    26 min

  2. EPISODE 2

    Episode 3: An Exorbitant Amount of Life Insurance

    No fingerprints, no ballistics, no autopsy. And now, 9Wants to Know uncovers several life insurance policies, one taken out just before the shooting. Jill Wells sisters have been asking questions about how their sister died for years but they’ve never heard what we are about to tell them. Investigative reporter Kevin Vaughan walks them through the evidence and the back story he’s uncovered that brings into question Mile Well’s theory that 6-year-old Tanner Wells is the one to blame.

    24 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    Episode 4: He Blew That One

    What did investigators really know the day Jill Wells died? Did they know enough to definitively put the blame on a 6-year-old boy? We pull the one box of evidence off the shelf of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s department to see what investigators knew and didn’t know. Then, we put a veteran law enforcement officer on the spot, does he think enough was done to investigate the death of Jill Wells?

    34 min

  4. EPISODE 4

    Episode 5: I'm calling about the Jill Wells case

    The three people who accepted Mike Wells account of how his wife Jill died, reflect on the investigation that they left behind 15 years ago. What do they remember about that day? Did they question the story that her son pulled the trigger? Why didn’t they ask more questions? Whose ultimate decision was it to accept that 6-year-old Tanner Wells was to blame?

    36 min

  5. EPISODE 5

    Episode 6: The Ultimate Question

    They say hindsight is always 20/20. But in this case hindsight could mean the difference between an accident and murder. Years after her death, Jill Well’s sister convinced a new investigator to look into the case. He did all the work investigators didn’t do in 2001. Ballistics. Interviews. And, an autopsy. He was ready to ask his prime suspect “the ultimate question” when the investigation changed forever. What that new investigation uncovered, and what those involved think could still happen to change, who’s to BLAME.

    26 min

  6. EPISODE 6

    Episode 7: For Better or Worse

    “She was so positive, and that’s why we never knew anything was going wrong” To understand everything that was going on prior to Jill Well’s death her friends say you need to know about who she was and what she talked about in her most intimate moments with friends and family. With her faith playing a more and more important role in her life, those closest to her talk about the chasm forming in a marriage that ended with a gunshot her husband said was fired by the couple’s 6-year-old son.

    38 min

  7. EPISODE 7

    Episode 8: No one's Gonna Charge a 6-year-old

    If Tanner Wells is to believe he didn’t shoot and kill his mother, he needs to wrap his brain around the fact his own father may be to BLAME. We needed to know if what we were uncovering would be damaging to a young man who had already been through so much. We shared everything we’ve learned about the death of Jill Wells with a forensic psychologist. Should Tanner know about a system that failed his mother? Something we try to answer on this episode of BLAME.

    27 min

  8. EPISODE 8

    Thanksgiving Minisode

    Eight Episodes into BLAME and we a hearing a lot of feedback from people connected to the case. We want to hear from you too. Who should we be interviewing? Where should we look next? Have we missed something? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page 9Wants to Know or use #BLAMEpodcast.

    4 min
See All Season 1 (37)

About

BLAME is a true-crime, investigative series by 9NEWS in Denver, Colorado. Learn more at 9news.com/blame. Season 2, "BLAME: Lost at Home," is a mystery about a man who was found more than a year after he was reported missing, dead in his own home. The first season focuses on the death of Jill Wells. Her son, only 6 years old at the time of her death, was blamed for shooting her. If you have something for us to investigate, email blowthewhistle@9news.com.

Information

  • Creator
    9Wants To Know
  • Episodes
    37
  • Seasons
    1
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    BLAME

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