Doug Stewart

A loving mother vanished one morning. The husband with whom she has recently separated, should be one of the first suspects, right? What if he has an alibi that looks rock solid? Listen to the story of how Doug Stewart thought he could get away with being in two places at once.

Location

Our story begins in the small southwest Michigan community in Colon Township located in St. Joseph County.  The closest city would be Kalamazoo whose name is derived from the Potawatomi Native American tribe.  The exact meaning isn’t clear. Some say it means “mirage of the reflecting river” and others “boiling or bubbling water.”  Kalamazoo is famous for having the first outdoor pedestrian shopping mall in the United States. It opened in 1959 and was part of the underground railroad in operation for over twenty years. Kalamazoo offered shelter to over a thousand runaway slaves making their way to freedom from the south.

Famous citizens from Kalamazoo include American director, writer, and producer McG. His works include Charlie’s Angels and Terminator Salvation. Other famous citizens include American wrestler Christopher Daniels also known as “The Fallen Angel” and novelist Edna Ferber whose works include Show Boat and Giant.

Vanished

Around 8:00 am on the morning of April 26, 2010, Larry McComb was awakened by his two young granddaughters, who were playing unattended.  Larry was confused as to why they weren’t being watched by their mother, Venus. Since she knew he had gotten in late from his truck driving job and was sleeping in.  When Larry got up he could not find Venus anywhere in the home. However, he did find her phone, keys, and purse.  Venus’s car was still in the driveway.  Outside, Larry noticed some stone gravel on the sidewalk. He could see what looked like signs of a struggle with the stones being disturbed in the bedding.

Larry immediately placed a call to 911.  His wife, Teresa, was also contacted at her waitressing job.  Teresa was the last one to see Venus that morning when she left for work around 6:00 am.  When the police arrived they were confronted by a panicked mother who kept saying “he took her, he took her, he took her.”  Teresa was referring to Venus’s estranged husband Doug Stewart.  Venus and her two daughters moved back in with her parents after leaving her husband. He still resided in Newport News, Virginia.

Wrapping

As police were looking outside, Larry pointed out two things that looked out of place.  One was a pink hair tie and the other was packaging from an “Ozark Trail” tarp that still had a barcode on it.  Police collected the evidence for processing and called in a detective from the Michigan State Police.  Detective Mike Scott was assigned to the case.  Detective Scott learned that just the week prior to Venus’s disappearance she had won custody of her two girls.  He also learned that Venus and Doug’s relationship had been volatile. The two had separated with Venus returning home to her parent’s home in Michigan. Doug Stewart remained at their apartment in Newport News, Virginia over 700 miles away.

Both Teresa and Detective Scott tried numerous times to reach Doug throughout the day with no success.  Finally later that evening Detective Scott was able to reach Doug. He informed him about his wife’s disappearance and asked him if he knew anything.  According to Doug, he didn’t and had been in the Virginia area running errands all day. One of those errands was to his lawyer’s office, Wilson & Wilson, to make a payment.  Detective Scott reached out to the local FBI office in Virginia to ask for their assistance in verifying Doug’s alibi.

Office Visit

The FBI talked to both secretaries at the law firm who confirmed that Doug Stewart had come in on April 26th to make a payment.  Surveillance video from Doug’s apartment building also seemed to back up his story.  Doug could be seen waiting to take the elevator, walking through the garage, and pulling out of his parking space. He left shortly before 8:15 am.

Searching

Police and volunteers began searching for Venus around southwest Michigan.  Tips called in to the local station were followed.  A local lake was dragged after a man had approached some people in wet clothing.  Nothing was found and searches were also having no luck in locating Venus.

Meanwhile, Doug Stewart remained in Virginia.  Doug said in an interview on Dateline that he believed that Venus had run off because she couldn’t handle the pressure of taking care of their kids.  He was bitter about losing custody of his daughters.  Doug claimed that two months before her disappearance Venus had taken off with the girls and dog without saying anything to him when they were still together.

Doug claimed that he was so worried when they hadn’t returned that day that he contacted the police. The police informed him that his wife had been in earlier that day to file a complaint against him. Since they were not going to follow up on it she had decided to leave and return to her parent’s home in Michigan.  

Following Up

In May, Michigan police along with a local Newport News officer, Todd Fyler, met in Virginia to interview Doug Stewart.  Doug didn’t appear to be overly concerned about them just showing up at his apartment and he let them in.  They also had a search warrant.  Police seized Doug’s computers but didn’t find anything else of evidentiary value.  Next, the police searched Doug’s truck.

Inside the dirty unkempt vehicle, they found a smudged receipt from Walmart on the floor of the passenger side.  What stood out on this receipt was the four items purchased: shovel, hat, gloves, and tarp.  Police were soon tracking down where these items were purchased and when.  Meanwhile, police were also busy analyzing a fingerprint found on the plastic tarp wrapping at Venus’s parent’s home.  Lots going on at the same time.

Van Wert

Investigators would discover that the receipt found in Doug’s truck came from a Walmart located in Van Wert, Ohio.  Van Wert is located close to the Ohio, Indiana border and about two hours southeast of Venus’s parent’s home.  All four items were purchased at this store the evening before Venus disappeared.

Falling Into Place

All the pieces seem to point to Doug Stewart as the person responsible for Venus’s disappearance. However, he had an alibi, didn’t he?  Detective Fyler in Virginia decided to go back to the law office and ask some additional questions, ones the FBI didn’t ask.  He asked the two secretaries to describe Doug in greater detail that day.  What stood out to them was not only what he was wearing but how he acted.  The Doug they described wore a baseball hat and a hoodie. The hoodie was pulled up over the hat along with aviator mirrored sunglasses.  Sunglasses indoors?  He didn’t make any small talk. As soon as he paid he didn’t wait around for a receipt. He just left, saying to mail it to him.

Detective Fyler didn’t feel that this was Doug at all. It was someone pretending to be Doug to give him an alibi.  Detectives back in Michigan agreed and started to track down who this other individual might be.

Records Don’t Lie

Detectives back in Michigan pulled Doug’s cell phone records and what they found in the three to four days prior to Venus’s disappearance a certain number with a 302 area code would show up seven to fifteen times during those days.  Suddenly Doug turned off his cell phone the day before Venus disappeared and didn’t turn it back on until the evening of April 26th.  The 302 number also had turned off their phone at the same time.

The 302 area code number belonged to Ricky Spencer from Bear, Delaware.  Ricky was a 20-year-old college student who lived with his parents and other siblings.  He didn’t appear to have any criminal record.  So Michigan State detectives Christensen and Criger decided to pay an unannounced visit to Ricky’s home. They wanted to find out just how he fits into the puzzle and knew Doug Stewart.

Unraveling

On June 21, 2010, Michigan detectives arrived at Ricky’s home and asked his mother and sister for Ricky’s assistance in a case that he may be able to help within Michigan.  Ricky went with detectives to a nearby police barracks for questioning.  He told them that he knew Doug Stewart from playing on Xbox Live. At times playing online for six to eight hours a day.  The pair had met virtually in December 2008 and had played pretty consistently for the past year-and-a-half.

On April 1, 2010, the pair met face-to-face for the first time when Doug Stewart invited Ricky down to his place at the River Park Apartments in Newport News, Virginia for spring break.  Ricky accepted the invitation without informing his parents. He also felt it was a little weird given the two had never met before and Doug was ten years older than Ricky.  Ricky told the detectives that the pair just hung out and played Xbox. They also visited local attractions as Ricky was not twenty-one. He claims that the last time he saw Doug was at spring break that first week of April.

Confrontation

Detectives Christensen and Criger knew Ricky was not telling them everything as they had Ricky’s cell phone records. They knew his cell phone had pinged off a tower north of Doug’s apartment on April 25th, not in Delaware as he had been claiming.  Detectives told Ricky that he was not their main priority, but that he needed to be honest with them.  They asked Ricky about his sisters and if this had happened to one of them how their family would feel not knowing what happened.

Ricky finally decided to come clean. He told detectives that Doug talked him into being his alibi so that Doug could go to Michigan undetected and “take care of business” and “get rid of her.”

Doug Stewart’s Plan

Ricky told detectives that after a few days at Doug’s apartment Doug started telling him about his estranged wife and how horrible she was to his girls.  Doug claimed that Venus was abusive. He needed to protect his daughters and needed Ricky’s help to do so by giving him an alibi. Ricky and Doug looked similar in that they had they were the same height and build.  At first, Ricky was appalled and said no. Doug continued to work on him for the next two days. He told Ricky that Venus once choked one of his daughters and that if he hadn’t intervened she would be dead.  Ricky finally agreed and, a plan was hatched.

Doug Stewart wanted Ricky to stay at his apartment using Doug’s credit cards around town, and key fob for the building. He would visit Doug’s lawyer’s office while pretending to be him by wearing his clothing and disguising himself with a hat, hoodie, and sunglasses to make it appear as if Doug never left Virginia. Doug would park his car about three blocks away from his apartment complex where Ricky could exchange vehicles to pull off the ruse.  Meanwhile, Doug would drive to Michigan avoiding toll roads, pay in cash for gas, and communicate with Ricky using prepaid Tracfones.

The plan was to surprise Venus, choke her out, and bury her in a preplanned spot.  There was a first attempt that was called off by Doug after he had been pulled over in Ohio by police and issued a ticket. On April 25, 2010, the plan was enacted again. Ricky went on to say that on the morning of April 26, 2010, at around 9:00 am Doug called him and told him that he had lured Venus out of her home and killed her.

Arrest

Detective Mike Scott immediately moved to arrest Doug Stewart on June 22nd.  Doug, who had been under surveillance by Michigan police when he moved back to the area, was arrested when he stopped at a local convenience store. At that time, Doug protested his innocence reiterating his claim that Venus had just taken off.

Twelve Days

In February 2011, Doug Stewart went on trial. He presented himself as a down-to-earth all-American good guy, and former Marine. He was facing a first-degree murder charge.  His trial lasted twelve days and his jury was made up of nine women and four men.   Police had declared Venus Stewart dead prior to trial. This was a problem for the prosecutor since Venus’s body had yet to be found. The prosecutor felt this was something the defense would pounce on.  The prosecution started out with testimony from the police officer that first arrived at the scene that day.  He testified that he immediately believed that he was at a crime scene.  Venus’s parents also testified as to who Venus really was. She was not a flighty mother who would just take off in her pajamas.

Shopping Trip

Next, the prosecutors presented evidence of Doug shopping at a Walmart store in northwest Ohio.  April 25th had been a cold night. So imagine employees’ surprise when they see a man walking around the store in Hawaiian shorts with big blue flowers on them with a loud mismatched top around 6:30 pm.  The video was shown to the jury.  Doug purchased a shovel, gloves, tarp, and a hat that night.  A clerk from the lawn and garden section testified that they had talked to Doug who asked if Walmart carries Lyme. Why Lyme? Because it will help absorb odors.  She told him they did not. Doug went on his way until he made it to checkout at 6:45 pm.

Next, the prosecution showed video evidence of Doug purchasing a TracFone from a different Walmart store on April 25, 2010. He purchased another TracFone and phone cards prior to his trip to Michigan using his credit card.  Doug had made a mistake with this electronic purchase. It created an electronic receipt showing the id of the phone that could be tracked using GPS technology.  This allowed investigators to track that phone all the way from Newport News to within 5 miles of Venus’s home.  Detective Criger testified that cellular data showed a call made to Venus’s home the morning she disappeared hit off a cell tower that was located near the McComb residence.

Prosecutors next entered evidence from the fingerprint found on the tarp plastic wrap. The fingerprint belonged to Doug Stewart and placed him at the scene.

Star Witness

Ricky Spencer, now 21, took the stand as the state’s star witness.  He told the jury how he met Doug Stewart and how Doug convinced him to be his alibi while he visited him on spring break on April 1, 2010.  Ricky was on the stand for two days.  He testified that Doug was his friend. It seems that since he spent most of his time online Doug probably was one of his only friends even though they hadn’t met in person until April 2010.

Ricky testified that Doug taught him how to avoid looking directly at the security cameras.  After prepping Ricky, Doug’s first attempt was on April 15, 2010.  The pair met up at a Bethesda, Maryland gas station where Doug gave him the disguise, keys to his car and apartment, and credit card.  Ricky then drove to Virginia pretending to be Doug while Doug went to Michigan to “take care of business.”  A video was shown to the jury of Ricky pulling into Doug’s space in the parking garage and waiting for the elevator in the lobby of the apartment complex later that night.  Ricky had used Doug’s credit card at Wendy’s restaurant to establish “Doug’s” presence in Newport News.

The traffic stop in Ohio put a stop to the plan that day. At 4:25 am on the morning of April 16, 2010, Ohio State Police Trooper Jeremy Wheeland pulled over Doug’s truck.  Doug was driving towards Michigan on 1-75 when he pulled him over. The traffic stop was recorded on dashcam video and shown to the jury.

Ricky wanted out after that. Doug convinced him to be his alibi again by saying that he would kill everyone in Venus’s home except for his kids if he didn’t help.  Ricky agreed again.

Second Attempt

Attempt number two occurred on April 25th.  Ricky pretended to be Doug Stewart and called him off work sick so he didn’t have to go in on Monday.  Ricky testified that Doug had parked his truck across from Venus’s parent’s home.  He called Ricky at 7:00 am and told him he wanted him to leave the apartment by 8:15 am.  The next call he got was at 9:00 am with Doug telling him “it was done.”  Doug told Ricky that he pretended to be the mailman saying he had a package for her. When Venus came outside he jumped out and he was able to put Venus in a headlock rendering her unconscious.  Ricky asked him if it was worth it and Doug said it was to give his kids a future.  Doug said he would call Ricky back, but he first had to go and bury Venus’s body.

More Testimony

Ricky also testified about going to Doug’s lawyer’s office that same day. Doug pointed out which secretary to pay the bill to. Ricky quickly left telling her to mail him the receipt. This exchange took less than a minute with Ricky handing her an envelope with a $100 bill inside.  At trial, both secretaries testified. One testified about another visit from Doug on April 27, 2010. He came in wearing a similar outfit from the day before, but this time he took off his sunglasses and chatted the ladies up.  Both testified that the Doug from the 26th and the Doug from the 27th was not the same man.

The two met up again at the gas station to exchange the cell phone and keys after Doug left Michigan.  If Doug had not gotten in contact with Ricky, Ricky was to take the items that Doug had given him put them in a plastic bag and leave them in a prearranged spot at the Montgomery Shopping Mall in Bethesda, Md.

Defense

The defense hit back hard at Ricky during cross-examination starting out with his vile x-box live name he used.  They were attempting to tarnish the clean-cut naive image.  They got Ricky to admit he lied to his parents about hanging out with an older man he never met except for online.  In all, Ricky was only cross-examined for twenty minutes. The defense didn’t come at him with the details he had testified to such as the surveillance cameras and location meet-ups.

The defense called no witnesses.  In their closing arguments, they pointed out to the jury that Venus’s body has not been found.  They argued would a guilty man wear such a loud outfit to shop if he was planning on murdering someone?  The defense just needed one jury member to doubt that Venus was even dead.   After three hours of deliberation, Doug Stewart was found guilty of pre-mediated murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree premeditated murder.  At sentencing in March 2011, Doug still claimed his innocence.  Even in an interview with Dateline, he claimed that he still wanted to know what happened to his wife.  Doug was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Accomplice

Ricky Spencer wasn’t offered immunity for testifying but did get a plea deal. Ricky ended up pleading no contest to the felony charge of conspiracy to commit manslaughter which can carry up to 15 years in prison.  The prosecutor recommended no more than a year in jail and three years probation for his role in Venus’s murder. He was sentenced in July 2011. In an interview, the prosecution indicated that Ricky was the lynchpin to putting Doug Stewart behind bars. If not for his testimony Doug Stewart may have gotten off.

However, Venus’s family felt that Ricky got off easy.  Venus’s grandfather even staged a protest outside the courthouse to show his disdain for Ricky’s deal.  Her family felt that Ricky played an integral role. As a twenty-year-old man, he could have stopped it from happening by telling authorities and helping catch Doug in the act.  Ricky was released from St. Joseph County Jail in March 2012 after serving nine months.  He was also released early from probation for excellent behavior.

Letter

In July 2011, right around the time Ricky was to be sentenced, Doug Stewart reached out to local media outlets protesting his innocence.  However, he didn’t actually put his name on the letter even though he wrote it.  Stewart had sent the letter to a friend asking them to send it anonymously in an envelope with no return address.  This two-page letter claimed that Ricky Spencer knows where Venus’s body is buried and that Doug Stewart was innocent.  Doug later admitted to writing the letter.  According to the prosecutor, John McDonough, this was just a way for Stewart to remain relevant. He described him as a “control freak” and wanted to have some sway in Ricky’s case.

Still Searching

Fast forward four years after Doug was sent off to prison. Investigators decided to visit him to see if he was willing to talk about what he did with Venus’s body.  He wasn’t. Investigators didn’t give up though and would visit Doug yearly to see if he wanted to come clean.

Police followed up on an old community rumor that Doug had buried Venus beneath his sister, Jamie’s barn.  Investigators talked to Jamie, Doug’s sister, and asked to use ground-penetrating radar to finally see if those rumors were true.  She agreed and at the end of it, nothing was found.

Jamie had been living with terrible guilt since she was the one who introduced Doug and Venus.  Venus and Jamie were friends and co-workers and she felt that her brother did murder her friend.  For years she wanted to reach out to Venus’s parents but was afraid to. Finally, after detectives had come to her asking to search her barn she asked for their help in reaching out.   The detectives facilitated a meetup. This would bring both families back together which put more pressure on Doug to come clean.

End of the Road

After all of Doug’s appeals were exhausted and knowing that his family and Venus’s family were on good terms he agreed to meet with detectives again, but with demands.  Doug agreed to take them to Venus’s body but would like the opportunity to join the K-9 program in prison and be able to teach.  He also wanted to be able to go to his parent’s funerals when they passed and an x-box for his unit. Most of his requests were granted.

Doug Stewart told investigators that he didn’t kill Venus at her house.  He choked her out and when she passed out he put her in the back of his truck. He then drove her to a wooded area he remembered from his teen years off a road near a soybean field. Venus revied and Doug ended up stabbing her.  In October 2018, Doug pointed out where Investigators should dig.  She was uncovered after an hour and a half.  Venus was interred in December 2018.

Resources

• The History of Kalamazoo MI.
• Celebrities Born In Kalamazoo, Michigan | Famous Birthdays
• Watch Finding Venus | Dateline: Unforgettable
• How murdered mother Venus Stewart’s body was finally found, 8 years later – mlive.com
• Stewart v. Winn, 967 F.3d 534 | Casetext Search + Citator
• Venus Stewart family members unhappy with plea deal for murder accomplice Ricky Spencer – mlive.com
• Doug Stewart guilty of murdering Venus Stewart – mlive.com
• Venus Stewart timeline: From missing person to murder trial – mlive.com
• Search in Venus Stewart abduction turns up suspected blood, suspicious receipt in estranged husband’s truck – mlive.com
• Stewart, Douglas v Stoddard, 1-14-cv-586

You May Also Like