public for a clandestine crime. Maybe the killer had driven to a secluded area. Or maybe it had happened in Liz’s garage. For all they knew, the Explorer could have been racing down the highway when Liz attacked, though that scenario was rife with complications.
Investigators had yet to find a body, a witness, or a murder weapon. Detective Schneider realized few prosecutors would be willing to take on such a difficult case. This very peculiar, twisted crime demanded the attention of someone who thrived on challenge and was so passionate about justice they would draw upon every ounce of energy to put a killer behind bars. He knew just such a person. Brenda Beadle. Schneider had worked with her on several cases and watched her convict killers he had captured. She’d successfully prosecuted a number of high-profile Douglas County homicides.
Beadle was intelligent, articulate, and determined. Admittedly skeptical when she heard about the Golyar case, she recalls, “When it was first pitched to me by Detective Schneider, it was hard to believe it was true.” Eventually, Schneider convinced her that Shanna Golyar was a diabolical killer.
Brenda Beadle joined forces with fellow prosecutor Jim Masteller. He was known for his honesty, even temperament, and ability to tackle complex cases. Beadle had earned her law degree from Omaha’s Creighton University—the same school where Masteller had earned his undergraduate degree, though he achieved his law degree at the University of Chicago. The two had worked together for years at the Douglas County Attorney’s Office. “But this was the first time we prosecuted a case together,” Brenda reveals. Their styles are different but complement each other. “I think Brenda is very empathetic, but I don’t think I’m nearly as much,” Masteller admits. Beadle points out that, “He’s structured, organized, and methodical.”
Brenda Beadle had worked with and trusted Jim Masteller and Dave Schneider, but admits she was apprehensive about the Iowa investigators. Violent crimes were rare in Pott County, and Detective Doty had assisted in just one prior homicide investigation. The Golyar case was Avis’s first. Would their lack of experience with homicides be a hindrance? She soon realized that Doty, Avis, and Kava made a phenomenal team. “It was a pleasure to work with them. They would do anything we asked. They were very, very good at what they did.”
Even with an extraordinary group of professionals working to get justice for Cari Farver, it wouldn’t be an easy case to prosecute. Jim Masteller stresses that in a typical homicide, “Someone hears gunshots, they look outside to see a body on the ground, the police show up, and right off the bat, you know when the crime happened, you know how it happened, and you know where it happened. These are things you take for granted.” With the Golyar case, “We didn’t know when it happened, we didn’t know where it happened, and we didn’t know how it happened. One of the things we have to show beyond a reasonable doubt is venue—that the crime occurred in Douglas County, Nebraska,” he explains, adding there were also challenges in proving premeditation with no witnesses. “How do you do that when you don’t even know how the person died?”
While the pinging of Cari’s phone helped establish location, Beadle emphasizes that Cari’s last Facebook post is “what we hung our hat on.” Investigators strongly suspect that Cari was intercepted at Dave’s apartment, shortly after signing onto Facebook. Liz had a key to the apartment, and could have entered when Cari was in the shower. But the team doesn’t rule out the possibility that Cari was confronted as she was getting into her car. It’s also possible Liz feigned illness and asked Cari for a ride home. Kind hearted Cari would have had no reason to suspect Liz was dangerous, and it was in her nature to help someone in need.
The killer left a digital trail as damning as bloody footprints in the snow. Not only were Liz’s cyber activities helpful in tracking her travels, some of it reflected premeditation. Days before Cari vanished, Liz posted a “joke” on Facebook: My doctor told me to start killing people. Well, not in those exact words. He said I had to reduce stress in my life, which is pretty much the same thing.
To Ryan Avis, the Golyar case seemed like “a slam dunk.” It seemed obvious that Liz had killed Cari. “But I started to lose faith around Beadle and Masteller. They’d say it was going to be tough. I’d say, ‘Your