of the vibrant young woman, the only thing containing her DNA profile. Pattee swabbed the insides of Maxwell and Nancy’s cheeks to get DNA samples for comparison. Max’s father in Colorado also cooperated and submitted his DNA for comparison with Maxwell’s so that through the process of elimination, they could determine that the blood was Cari’s. Pattee submitted the new evidence to the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation for testing.
On Sunday, February 21, Dave Kroupa was napping on Amy’s couch in the middle of the afternoon when a rock sailed through the dining-room window. Amy was in her room and came running when she heard the glass shatter. Dave was sleeping so deeply he didn’t stir until Amy shook him awake. Once they’d called police and swept up the broken glass, they had a good laugh as Dave poked fun at himself. He’d moved in to be the fierce protector but had slept right through the commotion.
The hidden tracker on Liz’s car placed her at the scene of the crime, and she was arrested. She pled guilty, paid a fine, and was released. Three agonizing weeks had passed since Dave moved in with Amy, and Liz’s rage was building. She’d thrown a rock in broad daylight, too furious to wait for nighttime when she could hide in the shadows. She would have been caught even if she had waited till dark, but she didn’t know that. Investigators were concerned about their suspect’s escalating rage. She had killed before and would kill again if she got the chance. She had to be stopped. Soon.
* * *
February 25, 2016, was a landmark day for investigators. They’d been granted search warrants for Liz’s Persia apartment and for the home she’d recently shared with Garret. His involvement with Liz made for a sticky situation. Not only was he a Pottawattamie employee, Anthony Kava was his boss. Because they worked together in the IT department, Garret interacted more frequently with Kava than he did with the detectives.
“We liked Garret. We trusted Garret,” stresses Detective Doty. “But we didn’t know how well Liz had her claws into him, and if he found information, what he would tell her.”
Kava, too, thought highly of Garret, but it was an unusual circumstance. “It had become clear to me that we needed to put Garret on administrative leave. He was too close to this case, and as an IT technician, had access to Sheriff’s Office systems, including ones with information about the case,” Kava explains, adding they wanted to be sure that digital evidence brought to trial couldn’t be attacked on the grounds that Garret could have planted evidence.
Garret was put on paid administrative leave. His employers made it clear he’d done nothing wrong but banned him from using county computers “until otherwise directed.” It wasn’t fun for Garret to be “escorted out” of the building, and he was shocked to find himself barred from work. He was done with Liz and would never have betrayed the investigators but understood why they were required to take precautions.
The team waited until Liz left for work before they invaded her apartment. They weren’t about to give her a chance to delete digital evidence, something that can be done remotely on some gadgets. As for the search of Garret’s house, he invited them in and helped move furniture as they looked for clues Liz might have left behind. It was already an awkward situation Kava emphasizes, and as Garret’s boss, he didn’t want to make it “even more awkward if I went through his sock drawer.” With that in mind, Kava stayed away from Garret’s place and joined the team in Persia as they picked through Liz’s messy apartment.
While the investigators didn’t find anything of interest at Garret’s place, they hit the mother lode in the Persia apartment. They confiscated every electronic gadget there, including a number of cell phones and two items that had once belonged to Cari Farver—her camera and camcorder. Liz believed she’d deleted Cari’s videos, but Kava was able to retrieve one made by Cari in April 2012. It showed a friend of hers, sawing a fallen tree in her yard.
One of Liz’s confiscated cell phones revealed it had been used to call Cari’s mother on April 17, 2013, the same day a man had phoned Nancy, identified himself as Dave Kroupa, and told her that her daughter was at the Siena/Francis House. Dave had denied making that call, and now there was proof it had originated from one