Alan Sorensen Havre Daily News asorensen@havredailynews.com
The disappearance and murder of a former Havre man is the focus of this week’s episode of Court TV’s “Haunting Evidence.” The episode about the mystery surrounding Russell Turcotte’s death is scheduled to be broadcast for the first time at 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on the Fourth of July with other showings through the rest of the week. Turcotte’s father, Bill Turcotte of Chinook, and brother Jacob of Havre went to North Dakota last December to participate in the investigative report. Jessica McCool, production manager for this episode, said the show begins near Grand Forks, N.D., where Russell was last seen. It concludes where his body was found near Devils Lake, N.D. “The show is called Haunting Evidence,’” McCool said. “We work with local law enforcement, family members and we work with two psychics and a paranormal investigator. They try to bring new information to cold cases.” Russell Turcotte was living in Wolf Point and was 19 when he disappeared from Grand Forks in July 2002. He called his mother in Wolf Point, and she promised to wire him money so he could take the bus home. His body was found in a tree grove along U.S. Highway 2 near Devils Lake the following November. Several theories about Turcotte’s death have been explored. The FBI has investigated the possibility that convicted murderer and sex offender Joseph Edward Duncan III might have been involved. He was in North Dakota at the time Russell disappeared, according to the FBI. Duncan subsequently murdered a family in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and kidnapped two children, one of whom he killed in Montana. Crimes for which he has already been convicted. McCool said most of the “Haunting Evidence” episodes are recorded in one day. “Basically, it’s a day-long investigation,” she said. “We fly the psychics in with no prior knowledge of the case and try to come up with new information. “ We started out that morning where Russell was last seen, and we ended up that afternoon with the Turcottes where his body was found up at Devils Lake.” Among others appearing in this episode is Jeff Ezell, who works with TexasEqqusearch, a nonprofit organization based out of Texas and headed up by Tim Miller, she said. “They do a horse-mounted search and rescue for missing adults,” McCool said. “They go all over the country. Jeff was involved with the case when it first started and he came for the show as well. Another of those appearing is Sheriff Steve Nelson, the sheriff up at Devils Lake who was directly involved in the search for Turcotte, she said. While the others were flown in, she said, “Bill and Jacob drove all the way down.” She said people interested in watching the show on Wednesday or any other day in the week, should check their local listings. People can also check the schedule and gather other information by going to the show’s Web site, courttv.com.
