On tour View all. >> translator: it was fast? >> translator: i'm going to tell you. >> no -- >> a day after denis led undercover detectives to the scene of his alleged crime, they returned to pick up that piece of tarp and sent it to the lab for analysis. she just vibrated. it's impossible to get around. >> and angry. >> were denis' two confessions evidence enough? dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. my job is to help new homeowners who have turned into their parents. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! >> the truth? try new vicks vapocool drops in honey lemon chill. healthmarkets is the number one ranked health insurance agency in america. and it certainly was in the media. available at boomernaturals.com, cvs stores, and cvs.com. and i've also had anxiety, headaches, insomnia, and panic attacks. >> what was it like to hear that? >> who are these people? >> shattering. >> it's hope, you know. >> when "dateline" continues. >> the joneses ruled out as suspects in the disappearance of wendy ratte. >> when "dateline" continues. with stressballs. he was left high and dry without being able to work anymore. wendy and i met in a parking lot somewhere just to say hi. >> the day after his meeting with mr. big, denis took two other undercover officers to the scene of the crime. >> and they had never been before. they just didn't make any sense. be there for you, and them. and against all odds, said denis' sister, deanne, the wayward marriage of the preacher's daughter and illiterate dropout worked. >> once he lost his job, i think it was up to her to figure out, okay, like how do we make everything work. denis ratte answered with conviction, "no, i did not." and he hadn't felt that since he -- since he'd been injured. >> translator: so essentially, your son is asking you to tell the truth. >> was wendy just the latest of a long list of women who had disappeared or had been found dead along this stretch of road? >> were you a daddy's girl? one of the worst things about a cois how it can make you feel. >> i think that she had the capacity to pick up and go. >> it was a pretty sizable dent. 0. but isn't that life? >> denis ratte had come to the moment of truth. i still love her even. all of us, i think, saw him as someone who would die to protect his family. View the profiles of people named Gabriel Ratt. >> what did you think when you heard that? when we understand what's possible, we won't settle for less. and i was taken aback. his audition, he believed, for membership, for trust, for help from mr. big. Accident, Suicide, or Murder Hollywood Horror. >> and he hardly knew a word of english and she hardly knew a word of french. sliding into a darker understanding of her father. you know, i think no loved one really wants to believe that someone they know and care about could be responsible for somebody's murder. >> and then a couple of minutes later, a silent nod from denis. that was a central fact in your mind? i was just in the lineup late to get my gown, get ready to go to the ceremony and think, oh, my god, you know, what is this life? >> denis did not listen to his sister. When Wendy Ratte, a free-spirited mother of two, goes missing, police go under cover to crack the case. she was driving a very fast, very expensive car. he said, that's not wendy. and he needed to pay the bills. >> he said that day that she disappeared, friends of his saw the family from down the street that she had had kicked out. >> that night and the next morning, i just kept making phone calls. not distraught by any means. a crucial moment when a high-stakes gamble went very wrong. gabriel was at work when the call came. >> the proof -- first, she says, the chilling details of his alleged cold-blooded murder. a jury was about to decide. so please be honest. no wendy. >> translator: okay. >> that's what i needed. >> the look in his eye on that tape was -- >> that's all you needed? now suddenly for a man he believed to be a crime boss, he changed his story. it does happen. >> right. >> i saw that glint in his eye where he felt proud of himself again. >> it felt like my world came unhinged. you win." desperate for money, he turned to small-time crime, did a bit of drug dealing, got caught. Ratte case draws NBC Dateline's attention The 1997 murder of a Prince George woman and the subsequent conviction of her husband for second-degree murder 13 years later could be featured on a U.S.. 2022. >> but as reporter frank peebles dug into the story, he found another so far unsubstantiated theory making the rounds around town. heart monitors that let your doctor watch over you, just like you watch over your best friend. Tracks. Harpaz, who is based in New York, said he was drawn to the story for several reasons beginning with the couple's daughter, Anna Sieppert, who kept the case alive only to find that her father was found to be the culprit. June . >> just at a loss. Wendy Ratte, a free-spirited mother of two, was missing. what it took for her to forgive him hurt him deeply. it's what she yearns for most these days. >> translator: right or left side? >> a canadian news magazine show profiled the group and found it had several branches in the u.s. >> i helped police look into that and gave them every information i could. she wasn't responding in the way my mother usually does. was it someone who had done her harm? >> thomas interviewed several of wendy's closest friends. healthmarkets designed its fitscore forever technology to do all the work for you. When Wendy Ratte, a free-spirited mother of two, goes missing, police go under cover to crack the case. >> we asked them, what is going on? that is, of course, if he knew anything about it. >> as their friend lois cook could plainly see, denis was fiercely protective of all of them. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. the premier cold case unit in british columbia. they're going distrust you, but don't take a lie detector test. >> probably. you need flexibility- to work from anywhere and manage from everywhere. i was on the ground. and would often ask, how much did you look into this because i knew there was an american sect. she chased down the leads. you live it. >> or could he or would he tell it again? and at that point, it was the only sense of pride he had left. >> this is anna siefert who at the time was anna ratte. i was nervous. Play. i've asked him more than once, why did you confess when you knew you were in front of a police officer? he had absolutely no reason, he said, to hurt wendy or have anything to do with her disappearance. wistful when anna, the bride, danced with her father. i even cried when i did it. it's truly phenomenal. could it have maybe been some kind of a sign of a struggle? now suddenly worried, denis, just as planned, had no one else to turn to except his new friends. what are you trying to get? she didn't want to be tied down. >> then it was a hot morning in august 1997 when everything stopped working. >> it was painful for diane to watch the video of her brother's confession in the pretrial hearing. >> so gabriel wondered what hard evidence had police found that proved his father was guilty of murder. >> "your father's addiction is ruining us" wendy told anna, and as was wendy's way, told everyone else who cared to listen too. if only she could speak to the spirits the way her mom once did. >> we checked into that and met with dead ends. saw clear or almost clear skin, and, had significantly less itch. >> you shot her where? he has blue hair. Following. first, the highway of tears. Wendy Ratte, a free-spirited mother of two, was missing. >> i just kept making phone calls, and no one had seen her, no one knew what i was talking about. >> the strong, silent hero who preferred long solitary walks in the woods to social gatherings. >> with various files, you get a lot of people saying, oh, i saw this person. she made an enemy? seeing a husband trying to relive the moment when he said he murdered his wife. i've decided we're going give it another try." cuz i remember turning. Keith Morrison reports. that's when she became convinced. >> mean the man they call "mr. big" when "dateline" continues. once neighbors of the rattes, not exactly friends. >> but given the continued absence of any physical evidence, that second confession still wasn't enough to convince gabriel his father killed his mother. >> they're 100% sure he's the. >> translator: yes. but -- >> i met shawna. S29 E9. >> mm-hmm. >> when "dateline" continues. i don't believe in twice. have a good weekend unless have you other plans. be kinder to yourself and tougher on your cold sores. so what was it? how do you talk about the woman you married -- if you didn't do it, could you really tell that story? Prince George man sentenced for wife's murder | CBC News Loaded. 615 following. that's because wendy turned 18, checked herself out, and disappeared again. Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. in minutes, you can find out if your current plan is the right fit, or if there's another one that can get you more coverage or help save you money. >> that's when we looked at passing it off to the unsolved homicide unit. that's shawna. i said, "okay, you were right. and he began to confess again. she talked about how much she loved dad but was so angry with him, wasn't sure she could forgive him. 2,044,148 plays 2.04M; View all comments 1,032; Followers. that's one of the examples of her community activism. The horrendous crime occurred on the night of August 31, 2003. >> this is karen crieder, wendy's sister, who told how wendy vanished the first time when she was 17 years old. >> what was it like to testify in the trial? Her remains were never found, and the case remained unsolved for more than a decade, until her husband Denis Ratte was charged in 2008, after he confessed to police during a so-call Mr. Big police sting operation. for me it was, she's going to come back, right? >> oops. >> all leading up to a sit-down with a man they called "mr. that phone call was happiness with a lot of relief in it. Wendy Ratte, a free-spirited mother of two, was missing. she was feeding the ducks, her back to him, when he took aim with a .22-caliber rifle. and the longer wendy stayed missing, the more they talked about the joneses. boomer naturals, you and your family deserve the best. >> and they sat me down and said, we've just arrested your father for the murder of your mother. though it was hardly a surprise police would look at the husband. >> i always thought of my family and my parents as being perfect. by nightfall, there was still no sign of wendy. another life-changing technology from abbott, so you don't wait for life. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. "This story will be as valid if you tell it a year from now or two years from now," he said. wipe. now back to "dateline." it was a sweet wedding, happy and a little sad too. >> didn't help that from one interview to the next, denis appeared to change vital information about the day his wife went missing. >> anguish like that couldn't stay hidden for long. >> a technique's ingenuity is also an achilles' heel. sounds like you've been shopping for health insurance. if i open up enough, she'll come talk to me. >> mom was emotional. but she stood alone. in a prince george courtroom, the battle lines were drawn. >> deceptive, meaning according to the police polygrapher, that denis ratte lied when he claimed he had nothing to do with wendy's disappearance. we try to talk with each other every once in a while. but when i spoke to the woman, she actually said no, i wouldn't be able to say that at all. home was a country cabin surrounded by trees and mountains of british columbia, canada. disappeared, he volunteered to take the test. Watch a special preview of 'Deception,' an all-new Dateline report airing Friday, June 14th, at 8pm/7c. >> the rcmp would not discuss the specifics of the undercover operation that targeted denis ratte. and shipping is always free. and tender moments like these, anna said, reminded her how much she yearned for the bond they once had. >> translator: yes. having helped enroll people in millions of policies while earning an a-plus customer satisfaction rating from the better business bureau, you can trust healthmarkets. he could have said, ah, i thought i was talking to a crime boss. i know when he's hiding something, when he's not being truthful about something. -keep it coming. >> i never met the joneses, but the stories i heard were that indeed people would not have been surprised if they had acted out some of the threats that they were alleged to have made. why not lie about killing wendy, too, especially when what was at stake was his acceptance in the gang and his new job which he loved as mr. big's loyal foot soldier. have they phoned the police? >> i'm going to help you or i'm not going to help you, okay? something that he told his crime bud wles they asked whether he was capable of murder. >> then a knock on the door. the stories were all anecdotal. View the profiles of people named Gabriel Ratte. >> for the last 11 years, denis had insisted he had nothing to do with his wife's disappearance. in the beginning there was wilderness, vast and lovely and a happy little family, a bring and sister who loved each other and loved their mom and dad. >> or maybe the enemy lurked within. afternoon, anna's worry grew. >> straight out? >> when "dateline" continues these are real people, not actors, who've got their eczema under control. it was brother against sister on the witness stand. >> anna's dad told her her mom had dropped her off downtown so he could run errands while she drove on in the family van to tutsi area student and then meet a friend, then pick him up again at the hardware store, but she hadn't returned. >> yeah. the way they talked to each other, the way they behaved, you know, it almost didn't feel like husband and wife. with health insurance plans constantly changing, having the wrong fit could mean missing benefits or costing you thousands. but remember, denis agreed to take a lie detector test, and now the results were in. >> then denis' criminal friends asked him to take them to where he dumped wendy's body. you might even qualify for free health insurance with no monthly premium. call or click now to enroll or see how your plan compares. i saw his demeanor change from a proud, working man to a street thug. then they can't help me. yeah. >> it was a fake confession. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. coming up -- another potential clue is about to surface from wendy's past. certainly there was some differences. don't forget. >> what did all of that feel like? but anna had another word for it. People always want answers, they don't like to live with mysteries, and in this case you have someone who was on a quest, who was very uncomfortable living with these big question marks and pursued it. some said wendy had a history of emotional troubles. >> mr. big is the commanding, all-powerful boss of the criminal organization. then he wandered around for a bit before he called anna to report her mom was missing. go to dealdash.com today and see how much you can save. wendy just didn't fit the profile. when she does that, she's shawna. and although the rcmp did not find any physical evidence to corroborate denis' confession to mr. big and his gang, it turned out they did have evidence that was perhaps much more compelling, and they got it after denis ratte was arrested. >> but denis' sister dion said that what she observed in saskatchewan when anna and gabriel were still young weren't just mood swings but something far more complicated than that. finally he said, you know, "that's shawna. >> that was a lie, of course. there was no evidence, said denis' sister. now 20 and living with a boyfriend hundreds of miles from prince george, she was determined to keep the search for her mother alive. >> he said, i couldn't just tell them i did nothing. weird. >> she was able to get a fairly big news story happening which made the city react and get them kicked off the property. he had found a newfound family that respected him, that thought he was intelligent. >> the man who ran the undercover sting, lead investigator robert burret, insisted his team took all precautions to make sure denis did not lie when he met with mr. big. >> and that's the one i don't understand more than anything. -you smell like fish. coming up -- a missing persons case like no other because who actually disappeared? anna thought the confession finally proved it. right now we're going to see who are you as a person. an herbal stress reliever ashwagandha, that helps you turn the stressed life into your best life. the police. -okay. she found some peace in that, and one day she said "let's hold hands and speak with oshanna." >> everything else i did was just mechanical motion. hello, i'm dara brown. she saw them following her. there was, after all, that sighting at the greyhound bus station. forward-thinking enterprises deserve forward-thinking solutions. >> denis was in a downward spiral. biden now has 306 electoral votes to trump's 232. and word of biden's victory came as auditors in georgia began the laborious task of counting nearly 5 million ballots by hand. dealdash.com, the fair and honest bidding site. >> maybe it was shawna who got on that bus, or perhaps oshawna? June 14, 2013. wendy had been getting unemployment insurance. suspects police had already eliminated, the jones family. >> and i told him right away, "i want the truth, whatever it is. like how would you deal with that? but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. >> and denis, anna remembered her father going for long walks in the woods alone, seemed devastated, lost, in denial. their visa card was almost maxed out. He is a director and writer, known for Karmina (1996), La vie aprs l'amour (2000) and L'automne sauvage (1992). >> so all thomas could do was file the results away and try to find more evidence against denis. is that a good idea? >> and he admitted it. there's no evidence. after a couple of months by august, he was helping to smuggle illegal cigarettes and kohl. the royal canadian mounted police disguised the identities of the undercover voice on this video. there was usually a game in town. When a world-renowned snake breeder is found dead, first responders originally think that his missing anaconda could be to blame; as the frantic hunt for a missing snake begins, the investigation soon reveals a tragic family saga and a sinister betrayal; S30, Ep18. >> uh-huh, yep. his target? >> a confession is the strongest evidence anybody ever gets, and, you know, it generally does the deed. She then turned to her father and asked why he chose to murder his wife and her mother instead of getting a divorce. after trying other medications. i broke down. we sold an ipad worth $505 for less than $24. but instead of anger he was surprised to encounter skepticism. >> i'm going to tell you honestly what happened. feel the difference. >> she survived a harrowing ordeal in one of the most dangerous places on earth. there's no shortage of other theories in the case, though theories like rumors are easy. she didn't just disappear. but then police showed him the video. >> you hear right, truthful. (upbeat music) i got this mountain bike for only $11. >> then there were the clothes denis said wendy wore. >> when "dateline" continues. Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014). >> by then, wendy's disappearance became news all over prince george. my emotion went into finding her. so i thought, what about 15 minutes. clear lakes reflecting the blue skies above. along the way, and left the van in this grocery store parking lot. Storyline Wendy Ratte, a free-spirited mother of two, goes missing; police discover she had a bitter feud with a neighbor before she went missing. >> he made a lot of money, first of all. and humira helps people achieve remission that can last. >> i know. healthmarkets' fitscore instantly ranks plans both on and off the government exchange to find one that best fits your insurance needs. i saw him at the food banks. if you need to hear it, go see the police. >> falling apart. boomer naturals, we've got you . -sorry. >> when i heard that mum had to change bank accounts into her name, she had to protect the family's income, that was the first waver i had with my father's character. a macbook pro for under $16. figuratively speaking." >> i had to believe him. i didn't want to leave a mark, right? you had to make a decision, and that was the decision you made? gabriel noticed that the old self-assured denis was back. the case of her mother's disappearance wasn't cold at all. CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices. so denis did what he always did when times were rough. it's another woman gone missing in unsubstantiated ways. "shawna has magic," she wrote. >> not a big surprise really. i say i always felt i connected with my father more. >> when "dateline" continues. >> the polygraph operator came back and told denis that he found him to be truthful. >> it was hard. at the edge of the wilderness, far from her connecticut past, a small house a few miles outside of prince george, british columbia. voltaren is powerful arthritis pain relief in a gel. for this free service, go to healthmarkets.com or call right now. four months after wendy. but we were both so lost that we couldn't -- we couldn't be there for each other anymore. >> there was a grudge. Skip to main content Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted. -blue. he went to vancouver, registered for college, tried to go on with life. >> but a failed lie detector test was not enough evidence to arrest denis, let alone charge him with a crime. >> i don't know. she had done it before. >> translator: i said it there? about a week later, another question -- would denis like to make some money on the side delivering bags mostly, their contents unknown. pretty scary, i think. this time for almost two years. gabriel was reciting a scene from a play that dealt with abandonment, anger, desperation, the very feelings he had been trying to suppress. 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