The Stoplight Killer - The Murder of Yancy Noll

January 6, 2025

In this episode, Payton and Garrett explore the unsettling case of Yancy Noll, a man tragically gunned down at a stoplight. Was it a spontaneous act of road rage or a calculated, cold-blooded murder?

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AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

You're listening to an Oh No Media podcast.

Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder With My Husband.

I'm Payton Moreland.

I'm Garrett Moreland.

He's the husband.

And I'm the husband.

Well, Garrett and I are back! It is 2025, and we are ready to go into our fifth year. This would be year five.

Sorry, blanked out—yes, year five in April of podcasting Murder With My Husband.

That's pretty crazy. Thank you for being here; we love you. Hope everyone had a good break, if you had a break. Good holidays. Back in action—I'm sure it's back to work, back at the office. Yeah, that's kind of what we got.

Payton has been on bed rest the last couple of days. She currently can't really walk, so I'm taking care of her. We have an MRI scheduled for the day this episode comes out, so fingers crossed everything is okay.

I asked if we could set the cameras up and film the episode from our bed, but she said that'd be weird. It'd be weird because I would want a different type of episode filmed, you know? I tried to say that with a straight face, but I couldn't—I broke, gosh.

Anyways, yeah, Payton did make it to the studio recording. I think we'll get some good news on Monday, and then we can kind of figure out a game plan.

That's what we've got going on. Announcements! I'm kind of taking over the podcast right now.

Announcements: If you want to listen to any bonus content, we have ad-free content and bonus episodes each month—two bonus episodes, to be exact. You can check that out on Patreon, or actually, you can check it out on Spotify as well. On Spotify, it connects directly, and also on Apple subscriptions. Check it out. If you love it, you'll love it.

A reminder that Spotify, Patreon, and Apple subscriptions all offer the same thing—just different platforms to receive the same content. I feel like sometimes people are a little confused about that.

For my 10 seconds this week, I would like to talk about how I keep biting the same spot in my cheek over and over again. I know some of you out there also suffer from cheek-bite disorder, and it has been very painful. I swear that spot, every time I chew, just sticks out, and I keep biting it. It hurts really bad.

That's it. I bit it on the way to dinner the other night, and I wanted to turn the car around and go home because I was so mad at myself. But I didn't. I took some deep breaths, and everything's okay.

That's all I got for everyone.

I will say, though, a little tease: some new merch is coming out in a couple of weeks, so be ready for that! I'm really excited for it—I say this every time, but I don't care. I'm really excited for this one.

We'll throw up some teaser pictures pretty soon. I hope one day we release something and we're like, "Yeah, to be honest, guys, we're just not really excited about this one. This one kind of sucks. Don't buy it."

Yeah, you should not buy it.

I don't think I'd ever say that.

But I would! I’m honest with my listeners.

Alright, that's enough talking. We love you guys. We're going to hop into today's episode.

Our sources for this episode are:

CapitolHillSeattle.com, CBSNews.com, SeattlePI.com, KIRO7.com, CaseText.com, Courts.Washington.gov, ParamountExpress.com, SPDBlog.com, FOX3Seattle.com, Times.com, ThePoorFool.com, and MyNorthwest.com.

Okay, so I think it's fair to say that we've all maybe done rash things in a moment of anger that we probably regretted later on. Whether that's saying something we didn’t mean to a loved one or even to a complete stranger, most of us look back with this feeling of guilt or shame, knowing that this behavior was out of character for us. We take it as a learning opportunity, right?

But not everyone is like that. When Thomas Den Bowman found himself in a heated moment with a stranger, it actually turned deadly.

I do have to mention here—oftentimes on our Thursday live streams over on Twitch—

I was just going to say this.

Yeah, we watch road rage videos, and we talk about it all the time over there. It’s so strange that, in one second, you can be that rageful at a stranger that things sometimes turn physical.

Even in some of the videos we watch, it goes from two guys arguing to, in the next second, someone pulling out a gun and shooting the other person.

Yes, like, whoa, how did we get here? There was no need to escalate things to this.

Well, Mr. Thomas Den Bowman is one of those people.

But it turns out this encounter wasn’t as random as Den made it seem. He had a dark secret, and those feelings of regret and remorse only came when he realized he was going to have to pay for that decision with his life.

It’s August of 2012 in Seattle, Washington. In the city of more than 600,000 people, a 42-year-old man named Yancy Noll had found his place in the world.

A quick add-in here: if you’re like me, the only Yancy you know is actually a girl from the movie Sleepover. So leave a comment for me on Instagram if you’re with me on that.

But this Yancy is a 42-year-old man. After growing up in Anchorage, Alaska, Yancy moved to the Seattle area around 2002, excited to be in a big city. For a fiercely intelligent, sharp-witted guy like Yancy, Alaska might have just been too slow-moving for his taste.

Speaking of taste, Yancy also had a very refined palate when it came to wine. Whether or not he moved to Seattle for the job, I’m not sure, but I do know that he became a well-respected wine buyer for local supermarkets.

But fine wine was just one of the many things Yancy embraced about life. He also loved a good adventure. He loved a scenic hike with his dog, Lola, or his fiancée, Jodie. Maybe the occasional skydiving trip, or at the very least, a morning kayak with his friend Rick.

Everyone who knew Yancy said he was kind and warm, with a big heart. He could always find something to talk about to fill the gap of silence and make you feel more comfortable—the kind of person who was great at his job, minded his own business, worked for the weekend, and really lived life to the fullest.

Someone who had a bright future ahead of him and was excitedly planning a wedding with the love of his life.

When Yancy left work to head home on the evening of August 31, 2012, he assumed he was going to spend the weekend like any other—living out another adventure and unwinding with his dog and future bride. But life had other plans for Yancy.

It was around 7:30 p.m. that night when five gunshots rang out in Seattle's Roosevelt neighborhood. They came from a traffic light at the intersection of 15th Avenue and 75th Street. Witnesses then caught a glimpse of a silver BMW Z4 burning rubber and screeching away from the scene.

That’s the first problem—he’s driving a silver Z4.

The first eyewitnesses, Kevin Watts and Angelo Rama, heard the gunshots go off behind them. In their rearview mirror, they saw the silver BMW, its top down and customized rims, racing through the red light and into oncoming traffic.

When you see something like that, you know whatever just happened was serious. This was a scene straight out of a movie.

Kevin and Angelo, though, are the type of citizens we all want around us. As soon as they heard the gunshots and saw the BMW fly past, they hit the gas, going from zero to 60, and tried to keep up with the vehicle. They were determined to follow him and stop him.

But the driver weaved in and out of traffic and was out of sight within seconds.

Kevin and Angelo, realizing they couldn’t catch him, decided to return to the scene to make sure everyone else was okay. They weren’t even sure what had happened yet. That’s when they saw a red Subaru still sitting at the green light, against the curb.

As they approached the car, they noticed shattered glass on the ground—and a lot of blood. Inside, the driver still had both of his hands firmly gripped on the steering wheel.

Oh my gosh.

He had four bullets in his head.

As you might guess, the victim was Yancy Noll.

Another eyewitness, a woman named Patricia Schulmeister, came outside after hearing the gunfire. Patricia lived right at the corner of the intersection. In fact, the fifth bullet, which missed Yancy, had gone through her fence, through a pane of glass, into her home, through a lampshade, and into a picture she had hanging of her cat.

Holy crap.

The bullet hit her picture of her cat.

By the time Patricia found the bullet, police had already arrived at the scene. She handed it to investigators, and they quickly determined it came from a 9mm Glock pistol.

But the first question police had to answer was: Did anyone see what sparked this?

A man had been shot in the head four times in broad daylight. Was this a targeted hit on Yancy Noll, or was it completely random?

When investigators looked into Yancy’s background, they didn’t find a single shred of criminal history. This seemed to rule out anything gang- or drug-related.

But one detail stood out: all the shattered glass in the street. It wasn’t from Yancy’s car—his windows were rolled down.

The glass was from the shooter’s car.

This meant the shooter had fired from the driver’s side, through his own passenger-side window, and into Yancy’s car.

I am so curious where this goes.

But if you remember, eyewitnesses mentioned the BMW had its top down, so the driver was cruising with the top down and the windows up. This detail actually proved helpful to police. Not only did they have a description of the vehicle, but now they knew they were looking for one with a broken passenger-side window.

And later, police found one or two witnesses who had caught a pretty good look at the driver himself. They described him as well-dressed, in his late 20s or early 30s, with slicked-back hair. He was described as either white or Asian.

Officers had an artist create a composite sketch, which they released to the public a few days later. Along with the sketch, they also shared a grainy image of the driver captured from a nearby security camera. For the next two to three weeks, local news outlets kept running the images, hoping someone would recognize him.

Meanwhile, police interviewed Yancy’s friends and family, trying to uncover what might have happened at that intersection. They asked if Yancy had any enemies, but everyone they spoke to said the same thing:

No.

Yancy was described as the friendliest guy, someone who wouldn’t have a personal enemy in the world. It didn’t seem possible this was a planned hit. So, the police considered another angle:

Could this be a case of road rage gone horribly wrong?

They pointed to a dent in the front of Yancy’s car, which they speculated might have come from some sort of accident earlier that day. Maybe Yancy had been driving aggressively and had a run-in with the wrong person.

But his friends quickly dismissed that theory. They said Yancy drove cautiously—like a grandmother. He was overly mindful and considerate, never showing impulsive anger or recklessness behind the wheel. They also confirmed that the dent on his car had been there long before that night.

To them, the idea of Yancy starting something physical or verbal with a stranger was absurd. He was polite to a fault.

With this, even the road rage angle started to seem unlikely. But what other leads did the police have?

Weeks passed. Hundreds of tips flooded in from around Seattle. Apparently, silver BMW Z4s with custom rims were very popular at the time. But none of the tips led to anything substantial.

That is, until September 14.

On that day, a woman called the police with an anonymous tip. She said she had seen the sketch on the news and believed the driver was a man who lived less than 10 blocks from where the shooting occurred.

She told the police, “I know his name. It’s Thomas D. Bowman.”

When police pulled up his driver’s license, the photo matched the sketch almost perfectly.

As you all know, I typically don’t dive into an offender’s background unless it’s relevant to the case. In this instance, it’s important.

Thomas D. Bowman, who went by Den, wasn’t someone who lived under the radar. In fact, back in 1996, Den was the subject of a featured story in The Seattle Times. The reason? He was considered a “child prodigy.”

Den, whose mother was a Vietnamese refugee and father was an American Boeing engineer, actually started learning computers at the age of three. By the time he was 13 years old, he was already enrolled in Seattle's Pacific University while also finishing in the top three of the Junior Olympics in fencing.

Oh, 13? Hm. Den, interest?

I've always... nah, never mind. Go ahead.

Okay. I've always just found fencing so interesting. Have you seen The Parent Trap?

Yeah, no, I know what fencing is. I just—it’s just interesting. I think they should change it up a bit. I think we should go—no armor, real swords. Anyways, let's keep going.

So, after this, he then goes on to get a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Washington. By 20 years old, Den had started his own tech business—holy crap, an engineering company that specialized in building robotics called Vague Industries. In 2007, he met a successful dentist named Jennifer Palm at a seminar, and a year later, she and the 25-year-old Den tied the knot.

Now, from the outside looking in, they seemed to be on a great path. They appeared to be madly in love, and both of them had a promising future—maybe even an early retirement if all went as planned. That is, if Den stayed out of trouble.

See, Den actually had a run-in with the law a year before he met Jennifer. So, back in 2006, that year he was charged with burglary and first-degree theft. While I'm unclear on what the circumstances were, I know he was later acquitted of the charges.

So, it was only a matter of time though before Jennifer found herself pulled into her new husband's chaotic lifestyle.

Now, fast forward to 2012. After the anonymous tip comes in, police set up a stakeout of Den's home. They don't immediately go to him, just to make sure they had the right guy.

Okay, and after almost a week of watching the house, they find zero signs of that BMW coming or going. That is, until day six when the garage door opens one afternoon—just quick enough for police to catch a glimpse of what's inside: the silver BMW.

Now that they knew Den had owned that car, they were able to secure a search warrant. That same day, on September 21st, they knocked on the Bowman's front door, warrant in hand. Of course, they made a beeline for the garage. One of the first things they needed to do was inspect the BMW. When they opened the passenger side door, they found there were still tiny pieces of glass on the interior and that the window had definitely been replaced recently. Not to mention, the garage reeks of paint, and the custom silver rims of his car, which had been listed as an identifying feature of this vehicle, had now been painted black.

So, within hours, it's not just a search warrant police are after—they now have an arrest warrant too. It just seems like it's going to be open and shut. So, I'm... I don't know. Thomas Den Bowman is placed in handcuffs that same day, while his wife Jennifer is also being called down to the station for questioning.

Den is held for hours waiting for the police to finally come in and interrogate him, but in the meantime, footage captures him alone there. All I’ve got to say—and sometimes we see this happen in interrogation footage—the guy does not look too stressed for someone who was just brought in as a suspect of murder charges. I don’t know the rules around it, 'cause obviously they hold them for hours on purpose, right? To wear them down, make them anxious, wear them down. But if he were to say, I mean, I guess he's being held because he was arrested, so there's a warrant. But if he were to say, "I want an attorney" or "I want a lawyer," they’d just throw him back in the county jail for a little bit.

Yep, okay. He doesn’t technically have to talk to them without a lawyer present. I assume that’s the case. I just—he’s not free to leave because they have the arrest warrant.

Okay, got it. 'Cause that makes sense. Sometimes, like, the lawyers will come in, and they’ll be like, "Hey, we're going home." Yes, that’s because they don’t have for an arrest.

Got it. Okay, so this guy is drinking coffee, he’s eating snacks. In fact, he looks frustrated with how long he has to sit there and wait. At one point, he even tells an officer he's annoyed with how long this is all taking.

Which you think this guy would be on his best behavior in a situation like this, especially if he’s innocent and hoping to get out. He’d be like, "Hey, what’s going on? I didn’t do this," instead of being like, "Can we just get this over with?"

Yeah, I will say, Garrett and I were stuck in an airport a week ago, and I couldn’t even eat snacks because I was so ready to get on the plane that was delayed. So I don’t even know how this guy is eating and chilling after sitting there for that long.

This is true.

So what Den didn’t realize was the officers at this time weren’t questioning him because they were questioning his wife, Jennifer. She seemed equally as shy and weird about things when detectives asked her if she had heard of any murders near her house over the last few weeks. She said, "I’m not sure." Remember, they live 10 blocks from the crime scene. In fact, she says, "I’m not sure," in response to most of the questions that she’s asked that day.

"Have you heard of any murders, like, within a few blocks of your house?"

"I’m not sure."

"You’re not sure? It’s a yes or no question."

"I’m not sure. I’m not sure. I’m not sure. I’m not sure."

This goes on for nearly 4 hours, and oddly, Jennifer never asks for a lawyer or to speak with her husband. She does, however, act increasingly nervous as the interrogation continues. She stops making eye contact. She’s shaking. She even agrees to hand over her purse when one of the detectives asks, which isn’t a smart move for Jennifer.

I’m going to be pretty thrown off if she’s the one who did this, so her handing her purse over isn’t a good move because she actually just told the police one thing that will prove to be a lie. She said that her husband’s window had been smashed when they were on a recent trip to Portland, but they went to get it fixed immediately after stopping for lunch that day.

Now, inside the purse, Jennifer has receipts—particularly one from a body shop—that shows the car window was replaced around 7:09 p.m., the night after the murder.

This is exactly why I never ask for a receipt. Also, like, you kept the receipt?

Yeah, yeah, so dumb of you. Fixing the proof of the crime. I’m glad, but right, dumb.

So, obviously, they didn’t do it immediately after lunch. But this is just the tip of the iceberg, because back at the house, detectives are about to uncover a lot more than just a few incriminating receipts.

So, after searching the garage that day, detectives also scoured the interior of the house, and what they find is, well, not a whole lot. Meaning the couple has barely any furniture. Some rooms are pretty much empty. Their mattress is sitting on the floor of their bedroom, all of which is a bit odd and confusing to police, especially considering that Jennifer makes about $250,000 a year alone. Wow.

But the devil is in the details, right? Dang, and there are some pretty bizarre details in the kitchen that set off alarm bells for detectives. Like a few Post-it notes that have been left around, written from Jennifer to Den. One specifically that reads:

"To the best shooter in the wild wild west. Bang bang. XXO."

You're lying. There is no way.

Which, like, okay, there is no way we're doing that. That is so crazy. That blows my mind. Right? Bang, bang, bang, bang—that’s insane.

Like, imagine the cop and the detectives walking in there and seeing this Post-it note on the fridge, and they’re there on suspicion that this guy shot someone four times randomly, and it says, "The best shooter in the wild wild west. Bang bang."

Okay, I’d be like, alright, so not only does this suggest that Jennifer—if this note is about the murder—then Jennifer knows something about the shooting, but I mean, lying... never mind. But if this note is also about the shooting, she seems to be encouraging it—like making fun of it, joking about it.

I’m not done. I was going to say there's only one thing they could say. There’s only one excuse they could try to put it on, and I just don’t think that would work. You know what I’m saying? She’s just pregnant.

Yeah, that’s the only thing they could pin it on. Also, I want to clarify, I’m not laughing about the shooting. I’m laughing about the note. That is extremely comical. I’m not laughing about the shootings. Has nothing to do with that part, right? That’s separate.

Right, now I’m laughing about how comical it is that you would write a note. You're an idiot. What an idiot.

Also, like, sick. It’s pretty twisted, actually. Think about it. You're kind of a bad... I mean, yeah, obviously you're a bad person because you murdered someone, but now you’re a really bad person for joking about it.

Yeah, I think that’s where we start to get to, like, psychopathic behavior, you know?

Yeah, where, like, the feelings are just turned off and it's just straight, like, robot mode.

Right. I do want to say the note becomes even more disturbing as this search of their home continues, because throughout the house, police find an arsenal of weapons and ammunition.

However, a 9mm Glock—like the one that matched the bullets at the crime scene—that gun is nowhere in sight.

So yes, Den is under arrest, but they still need more to build a solid case against this guy if charges are going to stick. And right now, they don’t have a ton. So, they are hoping maybe they can get some sort of confession out of Thomas Den Bowman.

Only, he doesn’t offer anything to detectives that day in the interrogation room. He just continues playing that tough guy role—the "I’m annoyed by this" act. No guilt, no fear, just frustration.

And then he asks for his lawyer, so they figure, well, maybe we can catch him confessing some other way.

His bail is set at $10 million, which they know he can't afford, so that means he's behind bars until his trial can begin. That's when police start listening in on his phone calls to Jennifer from prison. Unfortunately, they don't get much out of them aside from a peek into their intimate bedroom talk.

"Okay, bunny bunny, how are you? I'm doing good. How's my little snuggle cake? I just wrote you an email. Yay!"

Lots of cutesy name-calling. "I miss you. I want to snuggle with you."

So not much to take away there in terms of the investigation, but eventually, with the help of his lawyer, Den explains what happened that day with Yansy. So, he finally comes forward with his lawyer and he's like, "Okay, here's the story," and it's not what anyone expects.

Den claimed that night he was headed toward the I-5 Highway when he accidentally cut Yansy off in traffic. He said Yansy became so enraged that he yelled at Den, saying something along the lines of, "You better learn how to drive that fancy car, blah blah blah, or you're going to get yourself effed up, blah blah blah."

Okay, then Den said Yansy threw a water bottle at his car and followed Den onto the highway, where the road rage escalated. So, in Den's story so far, he's the innocent victim.

Den said he tried to dodge Yansy by getting off the highway, but Yansy followed him. When the cars came to a stop at that red light at the intersection, Den claimed Yansy rolled down his window and grabbed a wine bottle, which he threw into Den’s open convertible, hitting him in the back of the head.

Then Den says he saw Yansy reach for something in the passenger seat, and that's when he realized he needed to defend himself. Afraid for his life, Den said he grabbed his gun, fired those five shots into Yansy’s car. The whole thing was self-defense.

Yeah, that's a horrible argument. So, of course, there are a lot of questions about Den's testimony, mainly because A) why didn't he offer this statement when he was initially questioned by police, and B) Yansy’s friends and family said, "Absolutely no way. Road rage was not in Yansy’s nature. There’s no way he would have started this."

But this approach that Den's defense is putting together is actually an interesting play because they feel pretty confident that everyone on the jury will be able to relate to road rage.

Also, if there's any seed of doubt at all, he’s going to get off. And there’s no cameras or anything, so how do you prove all that? Right? Or you can't. It's all you can’t prove. That’s kind of why they were saying they needed a confession.

This just goes back to so many other thoughts I have about the legal system and attorneys. I mean, ‘cause the attorneys know that. I don't get this. I don’t understand attorneys out there.

I mean, you say it every time.

Yeah, but none of them will explain it to me. My DMs are cold with attorneys. There are no attorneys in my DMs.

So I think someone's right and someone's wrong. No one's defending themselves. No, they're defense attorneys, and they're not defending. No, they're silent. There's crickets, absolute crickets. My DMs from you attorneys out there, because this attorney knows that he's lying. They know they're defending a lie. Yes, we all DM you and say, "Oh, we believe them," because is it illegal to defend a lie? No, it's not. I mean, your client... it's illegal to testify and lie. I feel like it's illegal to defend a lie, right?

I don't think so. I think it's illegal if your client gets... you're telling me we can make stuff up in court and an attorney can be like, "Yep, yeah, that's what happened"? I mean, yeah, it happens all the time. Exactly my point though. Isn't it illegal? It happens, but is it not illegal?

I don't know. I feel like, obviously, testifying in court—if someone on the stand lies, that's perjury. Can a lawyer lie? Yeah, they probably will just get interjected and proven wrong. How is that allowed? But it's really not... like, how is that allowed, you know what I'm saying? I mean, all they do is lie, both prosecutors and defense attorneys.

No, I agree. I agree it happens on both sides, but I feel like it shouldn't be allowed. Anyways, sorry we got off topic for a second. Feel free to shoot me a DM.

Okay, so I'm actually... Garrett and I have been watching these road rage things on Twitch every Thursday, and now I'm doing a case where the defense is road rage. I kind of did some digging when I was looking into this case, and here's some interesting things I found: Triple A did a study back in the 1990s that found over the course of a 7-year period—again, this is the 1990s—there were 218 murders that happened as a result of road rage. C, 1990s, 7-year period, 218 murders because of road rage. A lot. But there are other reports that state up to 1,500 injuries and deaths are traced to road rage in any given year. 1,500 people are hurt or killed in road rage incidents almost every year.

Okay, that's a lot. That's a ton. So it does kind of make this concept a little scarier. Think about it: every time you go for a drive, unless you live in the middle of nowhere, you have dozens of little interactions, maybe of which you take personally, and you never really know who these people are that you're driving next to, who you're flipping off, who you're cutting off. Plus, there's this weird anonymity we feel in our cars that kind of gives us extra courage in those situations where we just feel like we can do anything and say anything 'cause we're behind our door, especially in my truck.

And when you put all of that together, psychologists actually have a name for it. It's called deindividuation, which basically means this loss of our individual accountability in group settings, and it leads us to some pretty wild things we wouldn't do in normal encounters—if we were, say, waiting in a line at Starbucks or something.

Oh, and get this: people are way less likely to act out in road rage if there's other people in the car with them, because that anonymity is kind of taken away. So when you're alone, you're more likely to be rageful while driving than if there are people in your car with you.

So Den's lawyers actually lean into this narrative. Everyone can sympathize with a little momentary road rage, 'cause the lawyers are going to say, "Well, everyone's done it," or at least fearing for their lives if they aren't the ones who initiate it, right?

So they argue fiercely that that's what happened to Den that day—that he didn't initiate this, he accidentally cut someone off and had to defend himself. Okay, but as detectives look further into Den's life, they realize there is so much more to this story. So let's start with the witnesses, or rather the lack thereof.

Turns out there were a few people who saw the shooting that day, only they didn't see anyone yelling. There were no reports of any bottles being thrown from one car to another, and when police asked Den, "Hey, what happened to that wine bottle that hit you in the head that he threw at you?" he says, "Oh, I threw it away after." Now, if this really was the smoking gun to Den's story, don't you think he would have held on to it to show police? Only he says he got rid of it because he didn't think the police would believe him, and he wasn't wrong. But there was more.

When Yan's body was found in his car, both of his hands again were firmly gripped on the steering wheel. If you're believing Den's story, that would not be the case. That's not really the position he would be in. He said Yan was reaching for something, and that's why Den got scared and grabbed his gun and fired. And honestly, this detail about Yan's hands being gripped on the steering wheel is so sad. He was scared for his life. It's actually really, really devastating.

And you also have to consider how Den acted in the hours after that accident. He fled the scene. This is not something someone might consider after defending themselves. But even worse, he went out to dinner with his wife that night, and that same day he turned off his cell phone, then bought a new one in which he registered under a different name entirely—Peter Newan. And then that following morning, he used the same fake name when he went to get his windows replaced. I guess he even tried to convince one of his friends to trade cars with him for a little while.

Then, three weeks later, Den went to a tire store to buy brand new tires for his pretty newish car, which made sense considering the media had just released details about the tire tracks left at the scene of the crime. When they cracked into Den's computer, they found a ton of new evidence that sort of changed the entire narrative.

Okay, not only did they realize that Den is obsessed with James Bond, but it turns out Den had been downloading books and articles for years on how to kill someone and get away with it. He had searched for how to delete his internet history before reading one document called "How to Arrest-Proof Yourself." He had watched dozens of videos that showed how to kill someone in a drive-by shooting—the exact same way.

Oh my gosh, he killed Yan. Now, we're sitting here thinking this is a road rage incident, right? You get so mad, you can't control it. He just wanted to kill somebody. Premeditated. If you're looking around, literally just wanted to kill somebody. It's premeditated if you're looking at his computer history. Yeah, this was all before that, and it makes sense now why...

Okay, time out, because it also gets even crazier. It makes sense why his wife wrote what she wrote—because she knew that he was into that, and she apparently was into that as well.

So get this: they find even more when they went through Den's work computer. His hard drive had two books titled Murder Incorporated and The Death Dealers Manual, along with other documents titled Forensic Gunshot Residue Analysis, Chemical Analysis of Firearms Ammunition and Gunshot Residue, Gunshot Wounds: Practical Aspects of Firearms Ballistics, and Forensic Techniques. Detectives realized Den was studying how to murder somebody—that it didn't matter who it was, that he probably didn't even get up that morning on August 31st and think, "Today's the day I'm going to do it." But that evening, an opportunity presented itself to Den, and Yansy was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Oh, and by the way, there was something else police found at Den's office: the murder weapon, or at least part of it. Inside a storage container was the slide from the Glock that he had used at the crime scene, and it matched perfectly with the bullets that had been collected. So now we have a pretty strong piece of evidence.

When it came time for Den's trial to begin on November 19th, 2014, he was facing first-degree murder charges. Yeah, by that point though, a lot of the cockiness detectives saw in the interrogation room two years earlier had worn off. When Den appeared before the jury, he kind of looked more like a little schoolboy. His defense attorneys had made him look clean-cut, like with his tail tucked between his legs. He suddenly seemed remorseful. Both of his parents were in the courtroom that day, while his wife, Jennifer, was nowhere to be found.

Okay, but Den stuck to the story his defense had helped him draft up—that he believed Yansy Null was going to kill him that day if he didn't pull the trigger first. He told the jury, quote, "I felt like it was just this crazy bad dream and I was running from a monster." He said he didn't plan to kill Yansy; he just wanted to injure him so he could escape, that he sort of blacked out. And when he opened his eyes and looked down, he realized the gun was in his hand, and that's when he stepped on the gas and fled. He later threw away the wine bottle and the water bottle—any shred of evidence that his story was true—because, again, he didn't think the police would believe him anyway.

But when the prosecution brought up the giant archive of evidence from Den's computers—proof that this had probably been premeditated—Den said he didn't remember ever downloading any of it, let alone reading it. His defense argued there was no way to prove he had ever read or watched any of that, which is a wild explanation from a defense team, especially because Den hired the same lawyers that represented Ted Bundy. Interesting, okay. Though I guess they didn't do much in the way of getting him acquitted either.

While they thought Den's self-defense in a moment of road rage would be relatable to the jury, it turns out the prosecution's motive resonated with the jury a lot more. They argued Den didn't have motive at all—only a desire to kill someone. There was no road rage here to be found. It didn't matter who. It didn't matter when. Thomas Den found his victim that day, and he used the excuse of road rage to hide behind his morbid curiosity he'd fulfilled.

So basically, the prosecutors get up and they're like, "Hey, if you've had road rage, great. Den didn't even have road rage. He just wanted to murder someone, so don't let them get in your head about this."

So on December 9th, 2014, Den's 32nd birthday, the jurors left the courtroom to deliberate, and three days later, they returned: Thomas Den Bowman was guilty of first-degree murder. Three weeks later, he'd be back in court for his sentencing.

Now, Den's mother begged the judge to sentence her instead. She told the judge, quote, "Our son's acts are our fault. My husband and I, we provided and allowed him to learn about guns for self-protection. I please ask you to allow myself to substitute any punishment by placing myself in Den's role." But then, when it came time for him to read a statement to the judge, all he talked about was how frustrated he was that the jury didn't believe his story. His lawyer had to do Den's begging and pleading for him, saying Den had shown guilt and remorse while serving time in prison. He'd even attempted suicide in there. But the judge didn't believe there was any real remorse in Thomas Den Bowman. They handed down a 29-year sentence instead.

As for Jennifer Bowman, the wife, the state attorney chose not to pursue charges for her knowledge of or connection to the crime. Since then, she's actually changed her name, gotten a new job, and divorced Den. I'm sure she has changed her name. Meanwhile, Thomas Den Bowman, a child prodigy who once had a world of possibilities ahead of him, now rots away in a jail cell in Clallam County, Washington. You can't run away, Mr. Bang Bang.

Here's the thing: how devastating for Yansy's family, for Yansy. I mean, according to all sources, Yansy was just a guy who loved life. He had a fiancée, he was about to get married, he was in his 40s, and he spent every weekend just loving adventure. Then he went to work, worked hard, and he dies because Den just wants to kill somebody. He's driving, he's literally just driving, both hands on the steering wheel. It's heartbreaking, and it pisses me off. Yeah, I mean, 100%. I think I'm just starting to get real pissed off at these true crime stories. That's how I feel. This is why I never mind another podcast, another time. It's just senseless.

No, I mean, most murder—okay, I guess not most murder. I mean, murder is a senseless and selfish act in general, but when it's random... but I guess when it's, um—right. We cover cases where it's like husband and wife, or I don't know. When it's obviously those are all horrible, but you can kind of, I guess, wrap your mind around what's going on, if that makes sense.

Right, in the way that the defense attorney was trying to make us believe in road rage. "Hey, we've all been there. You've been mad at your husband before, you've been mad at your wife before." Not saying you should ever kill them. Those levels are insane, psychologically. It's easier to understand, correct? That's what I'm trying to say. With this one, driving home, some random person's like, "Hey, I feel like killing a random person." Bang, bang, "I'm going home. I just killed someone. Wow, that felt so good." Psychologically, there is no piece of any of us who can relate or comprehend that. We can't comprehend it, and if you can relate and you're listening to this podcast, we got other issues going on. You need to call a hotline and then go the correct steps after that. You need to turn yourself in and never leave prison.

Alright, you guys, and that is the case of Yansy N. Please take today to think about Yansy and his family members who suffered at the hand of this senseless act, and we will see you next time with another episode. I love it.

And I hate it.

Goodbye.

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