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Transcript for The Case of Cleo Burdette

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Mountain State Mysteries contains adult content that may not be suitable for all audiences.

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Listener discretion is advised.

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I'm your host Marc.

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And I'm Courtney.

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And this is Mountain State Mysteries.

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The case we have for you today is about a 78 year old cattle rancher from Sismville,

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West Virginia.

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This is the story of Cleo Bredette.

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Cleo never married and he didn't have any children.

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He lived in the family homestead in Sismville on Ciceroen Road.

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According to Cleo's niece, her uncle was a master of his trade, a well-known farmer,

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quote, that was his life, end quote.

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Cleo's love of farming horses and raising cattle, quote, he did a wonderful job at it

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and he usually got top dollar for his cattle at market, end quote.

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On August 12, 2004, Cleo went to a cattle auction to sell some of his cattle.

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What happened on the day of August 13 is unclear due to the lack of articles on Cleo.

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On August 13, 2004, 78 year old Cleo Bredette was found murdered in his home by his sister,

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Gwen Wines.

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Cleo's home had been ransacked, windows broken, and the telephone line cut.

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Due to this being an ongoing investigation, we sadly do not have many details about this

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case.

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In an article from August 14, 2004, it says the Canal County Sheriff's Department is

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investigating the discovery of a dead body early Friday morning.

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Sheriff's deputies discovered the body of a man in his 70s around 9.30 am.

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After a family member who discovered the body called 911, said Lieutenant J.S.

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Bales, spokesman for the Canal County Sheriff's Department, quote, we are treating it as suspicious

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circumstances, Bales said.

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Bales would not comment on how the man died pending an autopsy.

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Deputies reported the man's home smelled strongly of natural gas.

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A Canal County dispatcher said deputies remained at the scene throughout the day, investigating

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the incident.

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The man's name and address were not available Friday, end quote.

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To me, it sounds like the murderer or murderers tried to use gas in hope that it may catch

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fire and start a house fire to hide potential evidence.

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Cleo's sister said in an interview with WCHS TV, quote, everybody was shocked to death.

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When this happened, that was the biggest shock that had ever happened to the community,

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end quote.

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Her family said she eventually moved out of state, partially due to the pain and fear

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she felt over her brother's death.

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What we do know about this case is that Gwen went to check on her brother on the morning

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of August 13 after not being able to reach him after he left her home for dinner the

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previous evening.

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Her family said that Cleo would always call her to let her know he was home.

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Loretta Scherke, Cleo's niece said, quote, it traumatized her, end quote.

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Gwen and Loretta used to talk about it.

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And she said, quote, it was a constant on her mind.

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She couldn't understand why they couldn't find out who did it, why they couldn't make

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an arrest, why they couldn't do something that was conclusive, end quote.

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Loretta said that she painfully remembers the day that changed her family forever.

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Her uncle had been tied up, beaten, and forced to drink weed killer.

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The Nod County Sheriff's Office detective Lieutenant Dean Snuffer said it was an apparent

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from the condition of the home that whomever was there was in search of something.

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Quote, it appeared to us that somebody has really ransacked the house, went through everything.

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It looked to us like they were looking for something.

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Investigators would soon find out that Cleo had received a large sum of money the previous

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day from the cattle sale.

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Quote, he had gone to market the day before and sold a bunch of cattle.

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Some may must have been at the market.

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Seeing him with all the cash, knew he lived alone, knew his house was isolated.

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He would be an easy target, end quote.

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Quote, some individuals in the area that live here and went to church in the area, they came

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forward and said they spotted what appeared to be, they thought, a reddish colored Toyota

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that had been parked near Mr. Bradette's house, end quote.

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In another article from August 18, 2004, it said Bales had labeled the incident as suspicious

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and said detectives are treating it as a homicide, at least until the medical examiner gives

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them a case of death.

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There were some abrasions on Bradette's body, but no sign of a gunshot wound or other contusions.

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Bradette's home was, quote, in a state of disarray, end quote, Bales said, though investigators

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could find no sign of force entry.

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During my research in a few different articles, I saw quotes of people saying that the house

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didn't have force entry.

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This had me wondering if Cleo knew who the murderer or murderers were.

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If so, they knew that cash would be in the house, however, it wasn't there.

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Loretta said, quote, I don't think the day he thought he had a chance to go to the bank,

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but I guess he immediately went to the bank the next morning.

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In November of 2004, Gwen told Eyewitness News that, quote, I hope I get to look them

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in the eye and ask why they did it, end quote.

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Sadly, she never got the chance.

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In 2019, she passed away not knowing what happened to her brother.

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Snuffer said, quote, Mr. Bradette's case.

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We still get information on it frequently, and we follow it up until that lead is exhausted.

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Somebody out there has to know something.

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There was somebody at Mr. Bradette's house.

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We want them to know that he has a family.

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They did care for him, and they want to know what happened.

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We want anybody with information, no matter how small they think it is or how irrelevant

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they might think it is to call us.

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Because that could be the last piece in this case that we need to solve, end quote.

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For Loretta and her family, it's just a matter of dignity and justice.

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Loretta said, quote, if you can beat, torture someone, kill them in the manner, you should

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be human enough just to come forward.

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And if you're not the person or persons who did it, then if you know something, you should

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do it.

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The family, they deserve it after all these years, end quote.

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After 19 years of unanswered questions, investigators remain hopeful that this case could be solved.

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Snuffer said they have had suspects in the case.

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Some have been cleared.

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He said, but there are others they are still looking at.

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They are asking for anyone who may have any information to call 304-357-0169.

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You can also email them at tips at canal sheriffs.us or submit a tip on their website.

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Courtney, do you have any thoughts on this case?

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I just felt like any of our other cases.

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You have a family out here that deserves justice to know what happened to their loved one and

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for someone to be prosecuted for the crimes that they have enforced, that they have done.

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There's a lot of things with this case, like any of our other cases that just do not make

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any type of sense whatsoever.

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And I wish that there was more info about this case out there, but of course, being

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a ongoing investigation, there's a lot of stuff that they just can't provide to us and

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everything.

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I mean, do I feel it could be somebody he knew?

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I kind of do, you know?

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I really honestly kind of do.

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I mean, I just hope in the long run that they finally get answers and one day this family

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will get justice.

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Mark, do you have any questions?

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Any final thoughts?

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I just want to know if they tracked down the red Toyota that everyone said they saw that

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day.

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If the people knew that he had the money, they would have either knew him personally,

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knew he was at the cattle sale, or they could have been at the cattle sale and really followed

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him home and away and just watched him.

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But somehow missed him going to the bank on the way home.

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I feel awful for his sister having to walk in and see that and just how it still impacts

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the family to this day.

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The interview I saw with his niece, like you could tell it still bothers her and affects

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her.

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This isn't just something that stops affecting the family after all these years.

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Yeah, the pain just amplifies over time.

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I just, I hate that the family still to this day does not have answers.

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Stay tuned for our next episode where we will tell you the story of a 16 year old girl who

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had her entire life ahead of her.

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If you find yourself enjoying Mountain State Mysteries, leave us a five star review and

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It helps others find good West Virginia true crime.

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