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NBC Dateline is set to chronicle the drawn-out case of 22-year-old Corey Wieneke, a former high school star footballer found dead in the house he shared with his fiance Jody Hotz in 1992. The episode titled The Black Candle Confession will air on the channel at 9:00 pm ET this Friday, August 4, 2023.
Here's the official synopsis:
"A glimpse of a sobbing woman lighting black candles is seared into a 9-year-old girl’s memory. Decades later that girl reveals what she saw, heating up a long-cold case. Keith Morrison reports."
On October 13, 1992, Jody called 911 after finding Corey dead in their bedroom. He was bludgeoned to death with an aluminum baseball bat, which was later located in an isolated area about a mile away from the crime scene.
During the initial investigation, investigation learned of Corey Wieneke's s*xual relationship with a woman named Annette Cahill and that the two had argued earlier that same day. Annette was only linked to the killing 25 years later when a witness Jessica Becker, who was nine years old, made a chilling confession.
Jessica alleged that she saw Annette light black candles and apologize for killing Corey. Other witness statements were used to implicate the latter in the crime, resulting in a conviction in 2019.
Corey Wieneke was beaten to death with an aluminum baseball bat, which was found not far from the scene
According to Oxygen, in the fall of 1992, Corey Wieneke, a former star football player who worked as a bartender at his family-run restaurant Wink's Bar & Grill, was engaged to his high school sweetheart Jody Hotz and lived in a farmhouse outside of town in Iowa. The latter worked at a bank in Iowa City.
On October 13 of that same year, Jody returned home from work and immediately called 911 around 6:00 pm after finding Corey dead on the bedroom floor. She told operators that "my fiancé is dead" and that "he's all bloody, and he's not breathing, and he's cold."
The outlet reported that first responders arrived at the crime scene and discovered it "was a blunt force trauma type of crime and the beating had taken place." They examined the crime scene and ruled out the burglary theory since nothing was missing or out of place in the house.
Jody reportedly told investigators that she last saw Corey that morning before leaving for work around 8:00 am. He was asleep in bed at the time. The former claimed he was supposed to be at work, but when she returned home, their dog was outside, and his car was in the driveway. Jody's co-workers confirmed her alibi, and she was soon ruled out as a suspect.
The following day, the alleged murder weapon, a bloody aluminum baseball bat, was found near their house. However, no fingerprints or DNA evidence were recovered from the weapon.
An arrest was made in Corey Wieneke's bludgeoning death after 25 years based on a shocking confession
During the investigation, one of Corey Wieneke's co-workers from Wink's informed authorities of a woman who confronted them on the morning of October 13. This woman was 29-year-old Annette Hazen (now Cahill). Annette was drunk, and Corey offered to drive her home, and they briefly argued during the drive before he dropped her home. The witness again met Corey later that night.
Investigators later learned from Annette that she and Corey were in a casual s*xual relationship, and they argued because she was jealous. She confirmed that they later made up and had s*x. Annette's alibi worked at the time and passed a polygraph test, which showed that "she did not display any indications of guilt."
The case remained unsolved for 25 years until December 2017, when Jessica Becker came forward and made a chilling confession to authorities. Jessica claimed she was nine years old when Corey Wieneke was murdered and was friends with Annette Cahill's niece.
In her confession, Jessica alleged that during one of her sleepovers at their house, she witnessed Annette lighting black candles and apologizing to Corey in the middle of the night, saying that she never intended to hurt or kill him and that she loved him.
Annette was arrested on May 31, 2018, and accused of first-degree murder in Corey's slaying. During her trial, prosecutors alleged she was jealous of his relationships with other women and murdered him in a rage. The first trial ended with a deadlocked jury and was declared a mistrial.
The defendant was tried a second time six months later when her drug buddy, Scott Payne, testified that he saw her in burning, blood-stained clothes on the day Corey was murdered. She was eventually found guilty of second-degree murder in September 2019 and was handed a minimum sentence of 50 years in prison.
Learn more about Corey Wieneke's 1992 murder case on NBC Dateline this Friday.
