Show full transcript 0:51 Terms apply, see capitalone.com for details. 1:01 Hey everyone, I'm Andrea Canning 1:02 and this is Talking Dateline, and today we are here with Blaine talking about her episode 1:09 called Unmasking the Monster. Hey Blaine. Hey Andrea. This was such a powerful episode. It's the 1:16 story of a successful young businesswoman's brutal attack inside her home back in 1989 and 1:23 how 30 years later her daughter set out to find the person who did it. But before we get to 1:28 all of that, if you haven't listened to the episode yet, you can find it right below 1:31 this one or stream it now on Peacock. We'll have more from Blaine's interviews with Dana Bady 1:36 and her daughter, Andra, who described the ripple effect of the crime from one generation 1:40 to the next. And later, Blaine will be joined by Dateline producer Brenda Breslauer to answer 1:45 your questions from social media. Okay, let's talk Dateline, Blaine. Let's do it. 1:51 So as I said, extremely powerful episode. And you know, even though this is 1:59 this airing because there was a crime, it's really the mother-daughter relationship that 2:07 I ended up taking away, you know, mostly from this, like just how special that was and how 2:14 the daughter fought for the mother and how the mother's experience affected the daughter. 2:19 And, you know, it's very complex, but really leaves you so uplifted in the way that 2:27 they handled this. I'm glad that you walked away feeling uplifted because that was kind 2:33 of the hope, right? I mean, these two, they're bond, they're love for each other. Their determination 2:38 is unbelievable and it's inspirational. And I also think that it's so striking that 2:43 all of this happened years before Andrew was even born, before she was even a thought, 2:48 right? I think that it underscores just how much of an impact crime has on everyone 2:53 one in the circle, even those who haven't, you know, 2:56 made an appearance in this world yet. 2:59 Absolutely. 2:59 And I loved how you started the episode. 3:02 You and your producing team, Chetna and Brenda, 3:05 which did such a good job. 3:08 The home video of Dana and Andra, 3:12 you just felt that mother-daughter bond 3:15 right out of the first second of the show. 3:18 I agree. 3:19 And I'm glad you named Brenda and Chetna 3:20 because they are amazing. 3:21 I have to give a big shout out to them. 3:23 Um, but yeah, I mean, talk about that bond, Andrea, both you and I are girl moms, right? 3:27 Like we know what the mother-daughter bond feels like, of course, we're daughters ourselves. 3:30 And I think that I, while putting this story together, while researching it, while doing 3:35 the interviews, was thinking about it from both perspectives. I was thinking, and I know how 3:40 Dana felt it was a difficult thought of, gosh, might this impact my daughter in some way? 3:46 Like kind of living with that truth is difficult. And then for Andrea, I mean, 3:50 I mean, she was very perceptive from a very young age and she was young when she kind 3:54 of started thinking, okay, something's not right. 3:55 There's something different about my family and the way that we do things than all of 3:59 my other friends. 4:00 And then as she got older, she, you know, became more and more curious. 4:03 But I was just really amazed by the fact that that's the type of thing that could 4:08 drive a wedge between mother and daughter, right? 4:10 If you think about some of the difficult conversations, if you think about maybe 4:13 there's more protection and I don't know why. 4:15 But Andra had this sense of determination to the point that she really went into 4:19 listening to True Crime podcast and said, what can I do to solve this? Which was just an amazing 4:24 term for her. So let's, let's get to Dana and this crime. I mean, this is the ultimate cliche, 4:32 right? It's the woman's worst nightmare, but it's a, it's a cliche for a reason. It truly is 4:37 a woman's worst nightmare. I mean, my heart just went out to her and that traumatic experience 4:45 that she had. So horrible. You know, I want to say a couple of things about Dana's interview 4:51 that will always stick out to me. It typically in our DateLine stories, it's rare that we 4:56 get to sit down and speak with someone who actually had the crime inflicted upon them. 5:01 This was my first time having an interview like this for DateLine. 5:04 Sitting down and listening to Dana for hours recount in a staggering detail 5:11 What happened to her more than 30 years ago was just a stunning experience and one that I will never forget because she remembers every single moment 5:19 She remembers every single detail. She remembers the smell the smell the fabric the fabric clothes the way that she was feeling for 5:26 Moment-to-moment the thoughts that were going through her head as things were happening 5:29 I mean and to be candid she gave such excruciating detail a lot of it 5:33 We couldn't even put on TV and so I think that to sit with Dana and realize that yes 5:39 you survived, which is a miracle. But your life after that is, is not the same. Like to live with 5:46 that memory in your head for 30 plus years thereafter. It's a completely different kind of 5:52 life. And it's a different type of struggle. So I think that that's something that really 5:56 strikes me about her is just the strength that she had, the fact that she had this resolve 6:00 in this moment. While it was happening to her, I'm going to remember everything. I'm going to 6:05 I remember every detail because I want to help find this person and bring him to justice 6:10 was unbelievable. 6:11 Did you ask her at all why she thought he spared her? 6:16 Because I would sort of assume, okay, this is it, you know, he's going to kill me, 6:20 which he did not. 6:21 I don't know if we directly talked about that. 6:23 I did ask her, why did she think that she was chosen? 6:27 Like, why did she think he did this? 6:28 And she felt that it was, he wanted to do it to break her in some way. 6:32 I mean, she was such a spirited woman. 6:34 She was, I mean, she was top of her career working at IBM, 6:37 which was the place to work obviously back in 1989, right? 6:40 As a woman, she was rising in the ranks, 6:42 she was young, she's single, 6:43 she's going to workout classes and serving in the community, 6:45 and she would go and visit her best friend. 6:48 She would tell me, her best friend who was, you know, 6:51 used to be married to this guy. 6:52 She would go visit and, you know, 6:54 just always be so fun and lively. 6:55 And she thought that in some way, 6:57 he very deeply resented who she was 6:59 and the vivaciousness that she brought in 7:03 and wanted to break her. 7:04 I did a similar story in Connecticut 7:08 with a woman named Donna Palumba who was really 7:10 devoted her life now to her organization, Jane Doe, no more. 7:14 She also woke up to a stranger in black 7:18 who proceeded to rape her while her children were in the house. 7:22 Oh, God. 7:23 Hers was different because the police essentially turned things around on Donna 7:28 and said that she was having an affair 7:31 and this was her covering up her affair. 7:34 She, of course, prevailed. 7:36 She sued all of that, 7:37 and eventually they caught her attacker. 7:40 And lo and behold, it was her husband's friend. 7:45 He had been to dinner at her house, 7:49 very similar to Dana's situation 7:53 in the way that they, you know, knew this assailant. 7:57 Wow, which is which is you know, it's just like so much so violating all over again 8:03 You know, it's it's not a like a stranger is bad enough and then when you actually 8:08 Know this person they're in your circle in your circle and that you've had interactions with before and possibly in your case 8:14 Certainly in Dana's case had interactions with afterwards. I mean, I think that's the the stunning thing, right? 8:19 It also just kind of exposes to you just how 8:22 completely depraved an individual must be to do something like that to a person and then 8:27 and interact with them afterwards. 8:29 Or in Dana's case, show up at her wedding 8:30 several years later, right? 8:32 Give her a hug and wish her well or- 8:34 Ooh, that video. 8:35 Meet her kids, yeah. 8:36 Of him hugging her. 8:37 Wasn't that creepy. 8:38 At her wedding? 8:39 I was like, oh, poor thing, had no idea. 8:42 She was hugging the wolf, you know, 8:44 the wolf in sheep's clothing. 8:45 And your interview with him was really just, 8:52 I mean, I was like on the edge of my seat, 8:54 you know, with that interview. 8:56 I think that, you know, when in speaking with him, I was able to see there were a lot of different 9:03 postures, I guess I'll say that throughout our interview and the interview itself was only 25 minutes long 9:07 I mean, it wasn't too long because he walked out. He walked out. He walked out when I started asking him questions 9:11 He didn't want to answer right but I mean he came in initially saying okay 9:15 We're only gonna stick to this obviously didn't agree to that and he kept talking and so I mean 9:19 It was he was just really all over the place with this. I think that looking at that 9:23 but just seeing how quickly he switched from dealing to feeling to motion to motion. 9:30 It seemed to be there a lot of chameleon work going on there. 9:33 But I will say that prosecutors fully believe that he is a serial offender. 9:38 Law enforcement believe that he has other victims out there. 9:41 It's important to note that I asked Fred Tanzer that directly. 9:44 Has he done this to anybody else? 9:45 And he adamantly denies it. 9:47 He says that this was the one and only time. 9:49 I can't imagine that that would be the only. 9:52 But then the, you know, the wives, I mean, it's, it's amazing that Dana is still friends, 9:58 you know, with her friend that was married to him, and thank goodness the, the wife came 10:06 forward, you know, and said, okay, wait, there was some, there is something. 10:11 I think that in speaking with Dawn, Tanser, it wasn't until later, of course, that 10:16 after the sting, after the arrest, after she learned, you know, what his previous 10:19 wife had said that she came to realize, oh gosh, like this happened to me too. And it wasn't right. 10:25 The other thing to point out too was that there were those jail phone calls. I mean, we 10:30 played a little bit of them where he kind of admitted the fact that he looked up the statute 10:34 of limitations. I mean, can you imagine that realizing that your husband is at some point 10:37 Googled or otherwise researched, can I get locked up for this rape? No? Okay, great. I'm 10:42 good. Let's move on with life. I mean, that's, you know, kind of how it comes across to 10:46 So you kind of hear her evolution over these phone calls of being sympathetic wanting to know more to finally saying I'm done 10:52 We're done 10:54 Thank goodness. I mean when we come back 10:57 we have two clips from Blaine's interviews with Dana and her daughter Andra and 11:02 They will share more about their experience dealing with the generational trauma caused by a single violent crime 11:12 Whoever says saving money is hard doesn't know that the new customers who bundle and save with progressives 11:19 save hundreds because switching your home and auto insurance is better than 11:23 cutting down on those iced lattes you love. Switch your home and auto to 11:27 progressive and see if you could save and keep sipping away. Get your quote 11:31 today at Progressive.com Progressive Casualty Insurance Company affiliates 11:36 and other insurers not available in all states. You know that feeling. 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We'll talk to some of the smartest voices about the top issues that 12:34 are going to define this election, from President Trump's influence to the war with Iran, 12:38 on the affordability and AI in politics. 12:41 We're diving into all of it and what it could all mean 12:44 for the direction of the country. 12:45 Join me every Saturday. 12:47 Just search, here's the scoop wherever you listen 12:49 and follow now. 12:56 One thing that this episode makes clear 12:58 and so many other episodes that we have done 13:01 is that family members can make a difference. 13:05 And if you are a family member and you're thinking, 13:08 well, it's just me and they've forgotten about the case 13:11 or that, you know, I can't go up against law enforcement, you know, this is this is just 13:16 more proof that, that you can make a difference. You know, the fact that Andra started shaking 13:22 trees again. And then they, you know, they test they do the genealogy and all of that. 13:28 I mean, it just shows you that, that families do have such a powerful voice in these things 13:36 can have a powerful voice. 13:38 Absolutely. 13:39 And I think too, the fact that Andra said, gosh, like, let me reach out, let me try something. 13:45 And alongside your message to families, sometimes you don't know the right people to call or 13:50 the right place or whatever it is. 13:51 I mean, she sent out kind of a note and basically, you know, Smallwood was the one 13:56 who, you know, he got it. 13:58 He started working on it. 13:59 But then all of these things fell into place, right? 14:02 He looked to see maybe there's a box of evidence and lo and behold, the box of 14:04 evidence was still there. 14:05 gosh, can we get the funding? 14:07 Can we get permission? 14:07 All of that stuff started lining up. 14:10 And I think that that's really kind of also part 14:13 of the underlying message in all of this 14:15 and that, yeah, keep asking, keep pushing, right? 14:18 Right, and how many other boxes of evidence 14:20 are sitting in police departments around the country 14:24 that, you know, in cases that have not been solved? 14:27 Especially when you talk about 14:29 the advances in DNA technology. 14:31 I mean, I loved talking with Detective Smallwood 14:34 and he said the things that we're doing now would have been complete science fiction to the 14:38 investigators who were working this back in 1989, 1990. So they were working to the best of their 14:43 ability back then. And then, yeah, you get stumped. And then suddenly, yes, decades passed. And it's 14:48 like, oh, we can do that. Boom. Easy. No problem. And so we've all done these stories where 14:52 there's some cold case that because of an advancement in, you know, the way they can 14:56 process these things, it's solved. And so I do wonder if all of that were just applied 15:01 in some way to all of these cold cases, 15:03 what could possibly come from that? 15:05 Yeah, yeah. 15:06 And not just that, but the roadblocks 15:09 that they had to face, law enforcement, 15:11 the statute of limitations, 15:12 which is just so, sound so wrong. 15:16 You know, it was like, you had more gasps in this episode 15:20 that I think I've seen in a long time, 15:22 you know, about all the things that were happening. 15:25 So I love how resourceful they were in bringing in, 15:30 you know, the US attorneys and coming up with this idea about recording, getting him in a lie, 15:37 you know, all of this stuff was like, they really had the best of the best on this case. 15:43 They did. And, you know, when I asked all of them, I mean, it was so clear when I sat down 15:47 with all of them that determination was, I mean, that was real. They were truly determined. 15:53 And they said that all of that came from Dana. Once they met Dana, once they sat down, 15:56 once they talked with her, they said, God, we have to do something for this lady. 15:59 like she is incredible, the fact that she has survived, that she's pushing through. 16:03 We have got to bring this to justice for her. I have to say when I spoke with the U.S. attorneys, 16:09 I mean, they were an incredibly dynamic duo first off. Those two ladies were just on fire and I 16:14 loved getting a chance to speak with them. They were great. And so they were already thinking, 16:19 okay, let's think outside the box. And it really was just checking off anything. Let's 16:23 call other states. Let's look for other things that he could have done. It was 16:27 very smart. It was so smart. And in none of it panned out. And so that, that kind of ruse 16:32 at his doorstep really was their Hail Mary pass, the last thing they could do. And yes, 16:37 he got 15 years from it. But in speaking with everybody afterwards, I think the best way 16:43 to describe it is kind of like a consolation prize, right? I mean, it's, it's an insults 16:49 almost to them, to Dana especially, that he'll never actually face prison time for 16:55 what he did to her. And that distinction is just so impactful. And 15 years, and they're 17:03 concerned that he'll get out earlier because again, the underlying crime is lying to FBI. 17:07 It's not the rape. And so that combined with statute combined with good behavior could 17:11 land him out of prison even earlier than the 15 years. 17:15 The fact that Dana knows who it is, she doesn't have to go on with her life and 17:20 and wonder and look over her shoulder and, you know, 17:22 she knows who did this and her daughter knows who did this. 17:25 And, you know, it really felt like you were in the room 17:28 when we're listening to, you know, the recording. 17:32 Like you felt like a fly on the wall and you're waiting. 17:35 You're like, say it, say it, you know, say it. 17:37 And then he says, no, never had a sexual relation. 17:41 I'm like, they got him, they got him. 17:43 There you go. 17:44 Except for they were waiting, of course. 17:45 They're like, wait, why aren't we getting the phone call? 17:49 That felt like a movie. 17:50 I can't imagine being in that position that they had to be in to hold that character. 17:54 There was another piece in there too that this didn't make it into our episode. 17:58 There was a moment at which Tanzer was sitting and he went up the stairs. 18:01 He said, I need to go upstairs and get my glasses. 18:03 And the agent and the officer were thinking, oh gosh, like he knows we're on to him. 18:08 Maybe he's going to come down shooting. 18:09 Like who knows what he's going to come down doing, right? 18:12 Like maybe bring a gun. 18:13 And so he talks about how he's sitting down there 18:16 still trying to talk to Don, his wife at the time, 18:19 but also like positioning himself, changing his position. 18:22 So when he comes back down, 18:23 getting a look at the staircase, thinking, 18:25 okay, do I need to be ready to, you know, fire? 18:29 I mean, all of these things go through your mind 18:31 when you're sitting in this kind of high pressure situation. 18:34 As far as these statutes, and I mean, 18:39 And you could just see on your face how surprised you were at some of the roadblocks when it 18:45 comes to the law. 18:47 I certainly walked away from the story thinking that. 18:52 It was stunning to me just, again, we talk about all the advances in technology, they've 18:58 been used to solve countless murders, right? 19:00 And so kind of the question that seemed to keep coming up when we were doing this 19:03 reporting and just continuing to dive into the story is why aren't the laws keeping up 19:10 with the advances in technology, right? As there is more ability to solve these crimes, 19:17 why can't the law keep up with the pace of that ability? And that's certainly Dana's 19:23 reason for speaking out. She's speaking out for two reasons. One, because she wants 19:26 the laws around statutes of limitations to be changed, she thinks that they just 19:30 need to go away. And then two, she and prosecutors again, want anybody who may be out there, who 19:37 may be watching this episode, who believes that they are a victim of Fred Tanzer's themselves 19:43 to come forward. And that they're hoping that by seeing Dana's story, that's going to nudge 19:48 some people to call law enforcement and say, hey, I was a victim too. 19:53 Yeah, I hope that they feel comfortable doing that. And I do, of course, hope they do that. 19:58 And, you know, murder is taking a life, obviously, and, you know, rape doesn't carry 20:06 always quite the same, you know, punishment, right? There's no statute of limitations on murder. 20:13 But for a woman or a man who has been raped, you're still alive, which is a saving grace, 20:20 but the torture, the fear, all the things you went through, the only difference is you're 20:26 Yeah. Yeah. And, and I want to say something too about Dana's attack. And this is something that both she and her husband said in our interviews, you know, he kind of said, some people have in their mind what a rape could look like. 20:44 He says, I don't even necessarily call it that. I call it torture. I mean, it really was a five hour nonstop torture. 20:50 But I mean, Dana made it very clear that life, 20:53 that that vibrant life that she had before was gone. 20:55 And it was now just trying to figure out like, 20:57 okay, what can I, in the moment, what can I salvage? 21:00 Can I start living again? 21:02 I am amazed by Dana and I always will be 21:04 because she managed to build a beautiful life after that. 21:09 A beautiful life. 21:10 She married Dick, she had Andra, 21:13 she's got this beautiful daughter. 21:14 She's a grandmother now, 21:16 which happened actually while we were in the process 21:18 I saw that she would, Andrew was expecting. 21:21 Yes, yes, the baby is here, so all of these things. 21:24 I did wanna bring up Dick because her husband, 21:27 because I did feel like that was such a beautiful love story 21:31 and it happened in the most perfect way 21:34 for someone like Dana, 21:36 who's been through what she went through. 21:39 Like this happened in the most perfect way 21:42 that he's the neighbor, that it starts slow. 21:45 Oh, let's go for a walk. 21:46 You know, this was what she needed in her life, and then he turned out to be so supportive. 21:51 He was so supportive. 21:52 He was so thoughtful. 21:53 I think the thing that she said, really, that stuck with me was that after she opened 21:57 up to him and told him the story, he went back and he wrote it down because he was 22:01 like, gosh, I just want to remember. 22:02 I want to be able to remember what she says and keep this and make sure that I 22:05 get it right and fully understand what she went through. 22:08 And that's, if that's not sensitivity, I mean, that's just, right? 22:12 It gives you chills. 22:13 Yeah. 22:13 It gives you chills and the way that also that he treats her with not surprising her, you know 22:20 Puts the knife away and says hold on, you know like all those things that he has to think about that is 22:26 Important enough for him. Yeah, you know because he loves her 22:29 Yes, you know, it was it was so sweet watching them together while we were doing this because Dana. She's so sweet 22:36 She's so sweet and tiny and petite and Nick Beatty is a big man 22:39 I mean, he is a tall man, so you can see even just with the size dynamic of like, 22:43 gosh, this is somebody who makes her feel safe. And it was very clear that she felt safe with him. 22:49 Yeah. That is a love story to be sure. And your interviews with everybody, 22:54 Blaine, were so good and so sensitive. And you have more of Dana's interview. 22:59 One of the things that this really touches on this episode is this generational trauma. 23:05 you know, when mom or dad, you know, 23:08 has been through something so serious like this, 23:10 and then, you know, how does this affect the children? 23:14 Of course, Dana speaks about this. 23:16 So let's listen to what Dana has to say about it. 23:18 How this is always in her mind as she raised her daughter. 23:21 Even in those early days of motherhood, 23:24 was there a sort of fear of bringing a daughter 23:28 into this world where something like this 23:30 could happen to women? 23:31 Absolutely a thousand percent yes and I was probably overprotective of her 23:43 because of it. I I know and I feel a responsibility for this that you know 23:53 she herself has struggled with anxiety over the years and it breaks me to see 24:00 hurt do that but this impact of the way that I believe I believe that what 24:06 happened to me made a huge dent in that happening to her so that just has to be 24:12 an incredibly heavy load to carry right your experience means overprotection for 24:17 your daughter means that she has a particular experience as she walks 24:21 through life I mean I think you know as mothers you want your daughters to 24:25 have their own experiences you don't want to necessarily color them or have 24:28 what happened to you be a burden on them before they can even really experience life. 24:34 And hearing that, you know, it's interesting hearing from Andra on the other side of how she 24:38 did feel that impact, right? And what that meant to her growing up. And I think we have a clip 24:43 from her we can listen to as well. As a kid, how did that impact you? 24:50 I had, and still do, pretty significant anxiety. 24:58 I didn't have to walk on eggshells because I was afraid of my parents, but I had to be 25:06 extremely aware of not just the surroundings for her, but also something that could affect 25:17 her would affect me because she's my mom, me and ours. 25:24 Looking back on that time, did it impact the way that you thought of things going forward, 25:30 that you saw the world going forward? 25:34 I think that it affected the way that I interacted with others. 25:46 I wasn't scared. 25:47 I just had a sense of how the world was a little bit earlier and that it was a weird 25:59 feeling to be like there's this thing that's true for my family that's really heavy that 26:04 nobody knows about, you know, that isn't public knowledge that can't be understood and that 26:12 I don't even have the information about. 26:14 Sure. 26:15 Yeah. 26:15 But you know that it's impacting you. 26:17 Yeah. 26:17 Yeah, every day. 26:19 Right. 26:20 Oh, poor Andra, such a, ugh. 26:24 For a child, you know, to have to try to process these feelings and not have the complete puzzle. 26:29 Yes, absolutely. 26:31 And feeling her feelings, but then also carrying her mother's feelings and wanting her mommy 26:35 to be okay. 26:36 It's just, you know, I could see though that it just had the impact of really deepening 26:40 their bond because their bond was just so unbreakable. 26:43 And watching them together, they were so loving and just they just adored each other. 26:47 The way Dana talks about her daughter. 26:49 Oh my gosh. 26:50 Like it was just the cutest, sweetest thing ever. 26:53 So she had a home run with her daughter. 26:56 Truly. She really did. 26:57 Truly. I mean, I mean, beautiful, smart. 27:00 Yes. The mom determined. Yeah. 27:02 Yeah. Mm hmm. 27:03 Really good job. 27:04 And she's a great musical. 27:06 She's also an actress. 27:07 She has a beautiful singing voice. 27:08 She's in musical theater. 27:09 Yeah, she does. 27:10 We talked about that for a while. 27:11 My sister's in musical theater. 27:12 So they were, she is very, she's just all around very talented, 27:17 very impressive lady for sure. 27:19 I mean, impressive family, impressive story, 27:24 impressive correspondent, impressive producer. 27:28 You are so kind. 27:29 This one had me really gripped from beginning to end. 27:32 So you guys just really did an awesome job. 27:36 Thank you so much. 27:37 Thank you, Andrea. 27:38 After the break, Blaine, you and Brenda Bresslauer, 27:42 Your producer will answer questions and address comments 27:47 from all of our viewers and listeners 27:49 who are interested in this episode. 27:55 Great meeting. 27:56 Who took notes? 27:58 Anyone? 27:59 With Monday Notetaker, the meeting ends 28:01 and the plan already exists. 28:03 Action items, owners, deadlines. 28:06 Go to monday.com, the AI Workspace platform. 28:10 Over the years, I've met people whose lives 28:13 were changed forever in a single moment. 28:15 In my new podcast before and after I explore what happens after the decisive moment personal 28:22 powerful conversations with Colin Kaepernick, Jeremy Renner, Gabby Giffords and others. 28:28 Join me wherever you get your podcasts. 28:31 Listen to all episodes of before and after with Lester Holt now, wherever you get your 28:36 podcasts. 28:40 The case that shocked Massachusetts, a pregnant young woman, dead, a former Stoughton police 28:45 officer accused of her murder. Now he's on trial. NBC 10 Boston is inside the courtroom every day, 28:52 following every twist, every revelation, and every critical moment. With expert legal insight 28:57 and analysis night after night, this is coverage you won't find anywhere else. 29:02 Commonwealth Confidential, the Sandra Burchmore case. Download the podcast today. Watch full 29:07 episodes on the NBC 10 Boston YouTube channel. All right, everybody, we are back. Andrea is 29:16 now out in the field shooting a brand new Dateline episode. So I am thrilled, thrilled 29:21 to be joined by my incredible friend and super producer, Brenda Bresslauer. Hi, Brenda. 29:26 Hi, Blaine. 29:27 At first, I have to say, you know, it was just an honor to work on this episode with 29:31 you. It was very special. You had such passion for Dana's story. And I think that really 29:35 came across. And hopefully our viewers saw that too. 29:37 Oh, thank you. I mean, as, as was clear in the piece, Dana is a very special human. 29:44 Anyone who meets Dana, I think, as Andrea articulated at the end, really joins this 29:50 army of people who's trying to tell her story and, in our case, highlight her search for 29:57 justice. 29:58 Absolutely. 29:59 And Brenda, I mean, a lot of times people ask, hey, how did you learn about this story 30:03 or how long have you been working on the story? 30:05 You, I mean, from the first phone call till the day it aired, you were working on the 30:08 story for almost two years. 30:10 Yes. 30:10 Yeah. 30:10 Yeah. I mean, we didn't know when we first got the case, Dana's name wasn't even public 30:16 as is typical in cases involving sexual assault. So she was just DB in the court records. And 30:24 it came up in our weekly story meeting of things that were happening around the country. 30:32 Just felt like even though it wasn't a typical date line, it felt like there was a lot 30:36 to delve into. He was a respected doctor. They had linked him with DNA to this 1989 crime. 30:43 They believed he was a serial predator. There was some initial allegations from the wives, 30:48 his two wives. So all of that made for some interesting material that it seemed like there 30:54 was going to be more there. Yeah. Well, I'm really glad that you dug into it. 30:58 Let's dive into some of these questions. The first one is from Sue Nunn on Facebook who 31:01 writes, one thing which was never explained is how he got inside her 31:05 apartment. That's a very astute observation and that's because investigators 31:09 don't know. They don't. They don't. At some point somebody had thrown out in the 31:15 course of our conversations, oh maybe it was a credit card like you see in the 31:20 movies where you put the credit card between the door frame, but really we 31:26 don't know. There's also speculation because Dana was such close 31:31 friends with his wife. He knew more about her habits, but they don't know how he got 31:36 in the house. 31:37 Yeah. This next question is from Chandra Booker or Chandra Booker. Apologies, I hope I got 31:41 that right. On Facebook, who writes, was there another reason why police didn't interview 31:46 Tancer, assuming talking about the initial 1989 investigation? I know Dana said it 31:52 couldn't be him because he was her best friend's husband, but I'm surprised they 31:56 didn't interview him since he did leave a message. Want to tackle that? 32:00 Yeah, so there was a list from her answering machine. 32:05 They had a list at one point of suspects. 32:07 And we have that list as part of the police file. 32:10 And next to four of those suspects, 32:14 there's just the word, which we showed on air, 32:16 the word out. 32:17 One of them was her brother. 32:19 Another was a car insurance salesman. 32:22 There was somebody telling her 32:24 there was a table to be delivered. 32:26 And then it was Fred Tanzer. 32:27 And in her mind, it could not have been him, in part because he didn't fit the physical description. 32:34 She was so sure. She said, don't even waste your time. Don't go down that road. 32:37 Let's look at some other possibilities. Yeah. 32:39 Right. It couldn't be him. 32:40 This is a comment that we got a lot from people who watched, people who sent me messages, DMs. 32:47 But this comes from Maria on Facebook who writes, 32:49 why is there even statute of limitations on rape? Why does that even exist? 32:55 Let's, I mean, let's dive into that. 32:56 Yeah. That's a good question. The idea was in the early days when, like in Dana's case 33:03 when this was six years, this was before we were using DNA to solve crimes. And you think 33:09 about the fact that witnesses disappear or sometimes pass away. People's memories fade. 33:15 They want to incentivize prosecutors to bring cases in a timely fashion. And it also 33:21 has to do with efficiency of the courts. Like we just can't have things open-ended 33:24 forever. So there were some logical reasons back in the day, but everything needs to be 33:30 evaluated now that DNA is being used in novel ways to solve crimes. 33:38 I mean, one of the things that I think we keep hearing as we've been reporting this story 33:41 is this notion of the laws not keeping up with the advances in technology, right? 33:45 Obviously, there are many ways to solve crimes now that weren't the case back in 1989. 33:50 And so many people say that the law should keep up with that. 33:52 I wanted to add one other thing. 33:55 Blaine, you remember when we sat down with Jeff 33:58 and you went through the box of evidence 34:00 and Jeff explained that when he had called down 34:02 for the box of evidence, they had only one box from 1989 34:06 and it was Dana's and that was this like stroke of luck. 34:11 And it just raises the question and the issue, 34:16 how many other states have, 34:19 because of the statute of limitations, 34:21 tossed or gotten rid of evidence. 34:23 In Dana's case, they were able to go back to that box, 34:27 retest some of the evidence, 34:28 and that's what allowed them to do 34:30 the investigative genealogy research. 34:33 But if you're a small police department 34:35 and you don't have space 34:36 and the statute of limitations has expired, 34:39 that could have been tossed. 34:40 And that was one of the kind of magical things 34:43 about this case is that it was still there, 34:45 but it raises the issue about our laws 34:49 and procedures keeping up with technology, that this material is what helped lead to
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