warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised. This story contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers discretion advised.
this is Wendy Budde and she just been told that that her sister had been murdered by her estranged husband…
while investigating this case, detective would uncover asinister tale of emotional torture and domesticabuse that had been going on since the last one and a half years,eventually leading them to te blueprints of a meticulously planned murder.
October 8th,2022,Bellevue, Iowa, Angela Prichard left for work at 7:20.
she ran Mississippi Ridge Boarding Kennel and was the one who would open up the place since it was earliy morning , Angela would be the only one there.
but that day ,she was unaware that someone was already waiting for her at the kennel.
Angela arrived at around 7:34 a.m. but littlde did she know that she only had less than six more miutes to live.
moments later, angela walked in and dialed 911 at 7:39 a.m.The 911 operator could hear Angela talking to a man named Chris.
but before Angela could even explain the whole situation , there was a gunshot followed by a deafening silence.
as soon as the state police are informed about the incident,they make their way to the kennnel to save Angela , only to walk into a nightmare.more horrifying than they could’ve imagined.
sadly ,it’s too late. Angela is gone. she is found lying face-.down in a pool of blood in the kennel’s washroom where she would bathe the dogs.however , there is no sign of Chris, the killer is on the loose.
just one clue is left behind: a chilling audio recording of Angela’s horrifying last moments.the only way forward now is to hunt this man down.
the investigators swiftly secure the scene, there urgency mounting as they reach out to a key figure ageousws in unanswered questions.Angela’s sister, Wendy budde
still stuck in the nightmare, Wendy gathers the strengh to pull herself together and provide some crucial information.
she tells the detectives that Chris is Angela’s husband
and his overly obsessed with her.for Wendy,there is no doubt that he is the one who had killed her sister.
allthough Wendy seems completely sure that Chris is the man behind the evil act, detectives need proof.
detectives pull the CCTV footage from the kennel and watch a recording of the moments that led to the catastophe.
for the initial for hours of the day, there is nothing suspicious happening. but exactly at 4:20 a.m, the pindrop silence is broken as the dogs suddenly start bark.detectives theorized that this must be the moment Chris would have arrived at the kennel.
they figured that after entering the property , he hide there for more than three hours waiting for Angela to arrive.
and at 7:34 a.m.CCTV cameras recorded Angela’s car pulling in.
about five minutes after that was when Angela dialed 911 and an audio of her getting shot was recorded.
and just 2 minutes after the gunshot at 7:41 a.m.detectives see a man leaving the kennels and walking into the woods.
Wendy confirms that the man seen in the CCTV footage is Chris.she says that even though the kennel is located in an isolated area with rugged terrain, Chris knows it very well.
additionally ,when the detectives are insepcting the crime scene, they spotted faint trail of blood leading to an exit.
since Angela’s body was not moved moved , it seemed like Chris must have left this trail behind.
since the kennel is the middle of nowhere ,there are no witnesses.it is turning out to be difficult to figuring out where Chris went.
regardless,the detectives start questioning the people residing int the area. from this point on .detectives are sure of at least on thing:
Chris was at the crime scene when Angela was shot.
but whch way did he go after that? and why did he kill Angela is a mystery they were yet to solve. and with that ,a hunt begins.
investigators still need to learn more about Chris and how his crazy obsession with Angela turned deadly.
and that piece of information is provided by Angela’s sister,Wendy.Wendy tells the detectives that Chris is Angela’s husband and though he and Angela were once madly in love, their relationship took a drastic turn and things changed for the worse.
for months , Angela had been trying her best to leave Chris so she could lead a peacfull life ,but Chris wouldn’t let her.
wendy said that Chris had a toxic obsession with Angela,so much , that Angela had started to live in fear that Chris would kill her one day.
however ,Wendy said that Chris wasn’t always like this.there was a time when Chris was a god ,respectable man.
and that’s why , after knowing and dating Chris for almost two years Angela decided to marry him in march 2019.sadly,the wedding bliss only lasted for eight monts for the couple.
after that ,Angela began to witness the violent side of Chris.by the end of 2019 , he was fired from his job and charged with first -degree theft.
the electric company Chris worked at accused him of stealing $ 36,000 worth of supplies from the organization.
he was out on bail and was awaiting trial.but with him still out of a job, all the weight was on Angela’s shoulders.but simply out of the pureness of her heart, Angela didn’t let go of him and even tried to help him out.
but sometime in 2021 , Angela learned that Chris had been using drugs and within months his casual encounters turned into addiction. despite that , Angela stayed with Chris ,hoping that he would change.
and there was change, but certainly not a good one.
on april 18th,2022,Chris physically abused her.Angela now had to face the reality and make some touhg decisions.
she decided that it was time to part ways with her estranged husband.
that night , she got him arrested and acquired a temporary no- contact order against Chris.
however, havng had another failed marriage in the past Angela really wanted this one to work and so , she decided to lift the no-contact order to give Chris another chance and save their marriage.
but little she know that she was clinging onto false hope.as time passed, Christopher failed to keep his promise to change his ways.
things took a turn for the worse when he started drinking again but it didn”t stop there;a chilling truth began to unravel when Angela stumbled upon tracking devices hidden in her car.
and two concealed cameras silently watching her…
… within her own home.
but this was just the tip of the endless torture. detectives uncovers that Angela herself has documented Christopher’s escalating rage and erratic behavior before her death.
on colorful ,sticky notes, she had meticulously documented the details of her physical and mental abuse.
after everything she had been through, Angela decided to end things with him.she obtained a second no-contact order on september 1st,2022, with the condiciton that any violation would lead to Christopher’s arrest.
but he didn’t care….
after this, when Angela , her sister, and Belleview police returned to the home she ones shared with Christoper to collect her belongings ,what they found inside was nothing short of a nightmare.
Angela’s sister was deeply disappointed when,despite the seriousness of the situation,the cops took n strict action against Christopher.
additionally , according to Iowa law, Christopher should not have been allowed to keep his guns with a no- contact order in place,but, for unknown reasons authorities failed to confiscate them all.
however,with no serious action from the police, Angela faced constant threats and fear the entire month of september.
on september 15th Belleview police arrested Christopher only once for texting Angela,but he was released on bail the very next day.
instead of deterring him,the arrest only made him more aggressive. he resorted to intimidation tactics ,including driving past Angela’s house over six times in an hour.
Angela reported everything to police but once again, they ignored the looming threats.
then , on October 8th , 2022, the very horrors she had feared became a reality from Christopher and Angela’s relationship dynamics, detectives realize the motive for the murder.
but the biggest challenge for detectives now is that Chris remains at large and an intense manhunt starts. cops went to nearby houses in search of Chris.
officers traced his pohne to the last location it rang near the same house they just visisted, so they went there again ,hoping they were not already too late.
after finding no trace of him at the property ,the police headed to a nearby store he frequently visited.
since the woman wasn’t sure about the exact day she last saw Chris, the officer chose to very with others staff members at the store.
unfortunately after speaking with them , the officer foun no significant clues about where he might be hiding.
and moved on to question his close associates.
once again ,the officer met with the same outcome,with no one offering any significant information about his whereabouts and the possibility of finding him was fading.
but the way he soon be caught is something no one expects.
after searching residential areas , authorities suspect that he fled into the vast wilderness as police dogs also lost his scent.
there are hundreds of acres of farmland and forest in the area,with the mississippi River nearby. so,they devise a plan using local resources,including local enforcement,farmers, and hunters to track him down.
the detectives have no idea that their plan will succeed.
and that christopher’s clsoe friends, Jeff Junk and his girlfriend, Kim Klene will ultimately lead them to him.
Jeff and kim learned about the murder from neighbors and authorities also warned them that Christopher was on the run.
and might seek shelte with soemone he knew.
around 8:15 p.m Jeff and kim heard a knock at their door.panicked they didn’t respond at first, but when a second knock came, they couldn’t ignore it.
they were schocked to find Christopher at their front door,holding a shotgun.they fely the urge to call the police,but fear held them back.
one wrong move, and Christopher could snap at any moment.so,
first,they tried to gain his trust,making him believe that they were on his side. feeling reassured, Christopher admitted that he had been rinning from the cops and their dogs all day and just needed a place to rest.
after spending some time together ,Kim cautiously asked christopher about the murder.his response was disturbingly cold,even after acknowledging his wife’s death.
instead of showing regret, he acted as if nothing had happened, enjoying the company of his close friends. shocked by his behavior,kim discreetly took several photos of the moment.
after a few drinks , christopher passed out ,giving kim the chance to safely take his gun away,while Jeff contacts the police.
when cops arrived,Christopher was still asleep.they woke him up, arrested him and took him to Jackson County Jail.
they also found crucial evidence Christopher had left at Jeff’s house , including a 20-gauge shotgun,his ripped clothing ,Angela’s cards, and her cell phone.
on October 9th.
Christopher was taken into custody and charged with first -degree murder and robbery.
during the interrogation, Christopher finally reveals his encounter with Angela in the dog kennels on the day of the murder.
he claims that he only went to talk to her that evening,but she told him to leave and the shooting was purely accidental.
Christopher repeatedly tries to prove the shooting was accidental, claiming that the gun was leaning against the cupboards.
as he reached for his backpack, the gun fell , discharged and shot Angela . according to him , Angela wasn’t even seriously injured since she kept yelling at him.but detectives know he’s lying outright, as they already have evidence proving otherwhise.
in the 911 call, Christopher was the one hurling verbal abuse at Angela dirungher final moments.
Angela’s autopsy report also reveals that the gunshot wound in the center of her chest had a downward trajectory , indicating that Christopher was holding the weapon and standing when he fired.
this evidence disproves his claim that the gun accidentally discharged after falling.moreover , the evidence so far proves it wasn’t an acciden, but a planned murder.
piecing everything together,detectives now understand how Christopher executed the murder .
but the final blow came on October 7th ,2022, just a day before the murder, when Angela temporary restraining order was officially made permanent.
this decision further ignited Christopher’s deep- seated anger.
he soon made up his mind to kill her ,but before acting,he carefully planned each step to cover its tracks.
rather than using his own vehicle,he deliberately borrowed a white picup tricl to establish a false alibi.
he then intentionally drove several miles away from the Mississippi Ridge Boarding Kennels and hid the white pickup truck inside a barn.
owned by his friends Lori and Mike Blaser. he left a note with his name inside the truck,stating that he had gone hunting and that the keys were inside if they needed to move it. assuring them he would return soon.
initally , nothing seemed off , but on October 8th , 2022, when they heard about the murder,they realized something was wrong.
Blaser’s home surveillance footage also captured Christopher entering the barn,parkng his truck, and spending sometime in their horse trailer.
later that night ,he left ,possibly hiking through the dense woods toward Angela’s kennels.
on October 8th , 2022, from 4:00 a.m,he stayed hidden in the kennels , waiting to confront Angela.when she arrived in the kennels after some time and saw him, she told him to leave, but he refused and started arguing with her.
realizing the danger she called 911 for help,but while she was on the call, he shot he dead around 7:39 a.m. before fleeing the scene.
despite overwhelming evidence ,against him ,Christopher pleaded not guilty to first- degree murder and robbery charges.
during his trial on February 7th, 2024.
however, in march 2024 , the court found him guilty and sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.