Naman Shrestha
Hulu’s ‘Little Miss Innocent: Passion. Poison. Prison.’ is a three-episode true crime docuseries that delves deep into the horrific murder of Dr. Nary Yoder in 2015 and the investigation that followed. When foul play was detected, several suspects emerged throughout the investigation, which ultimately led the detectives to the perpetrator, who claimed that they were wrongfully convicted. The docuseries also features insightful interviews with the loved ones of Mary as well as the convicted killer, allowing the viewers to look at both sides of the story.
Dr. Mary Yoder Unexpectedly Died at the Hospital
On March 18, 1955, Arthur Charles Bakert and Norma Janet Schwartz Bakert gave birth to a little bundle of joy in the form of Mary Louise Bakert Yoder in Buffalo, New York. While growing up, she also had the loving company of her siblings — Kathleen Richmond, Sarah Bakert, Janine King, Patricia Bakert Miceli, Sharon, Thomas, and Arthur. During her college days, in 1975, she crossed paths with William R. “Bill” Yoder, who turned out to be the love of her life and husband. In 1986, she graduated from Life Chiropractic College with a Doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine. With around two decades of schooling under her belt, she founded and operated Chiropractic Family Care in Whitesboro along with her husband.
Although they were a hard-working and career-oriented couple, they also ensured to build a family of their own. During their marriage, they gave birth to two daughters, Tamaryn Yoder and Liana Hegde, and a son named Adam Yoder. In her free time, she loved to indulge in her hobbies, which included dancing, painting, and gardening. Also having a knack for music, she was an integral part of the World Music Choir. Later in life, when she became a grandmother, her grandkids became the center of her life. With everything going smoothly in her personal and professional life, Dr. Mary Yoder and her loved ones’ lives turned around on the morning of July 20, 2015.
That afternoon, the 60-year-old chiropractor started feeling sick all of a sudden while she was attending to her patients in her Chiropractic clinic. When her condition failed to improve overnight, she was admitted to the hospital. After examination, the doctors told her family that she would probably be eligible for discharge the next morning. However, on July 22, 2015, Mary unexpectedly went into cardiac arrest and was declared dead at the Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare Center in Utica, New York. Several months later, her body was examined to check if she was poisoned. It turned out that she was given a lethal amount of Colchicine, which caused her death. As soon as the police learned that she died of poisoning, the police launched a homicide investigation.
Dr. Mary Yoder’s Husband and Son Were Prime Suspects in the Beginning
In the initial phases of the investigation, the detectives naturally suspected Mary Yoder’s husband, William “Bill” Yoder. What intensified their suspicion of him was the sudden bloom of a romance between him and his late wife’s sister. However, upon looking into his possible motives and his whereabouts, they crossed out his name from their suspects’ list. In November 2015, their focus shifted toward the victim’s son, Adam Yoder, after they received an anonymous letter that blamed him for the murder of his own mother. The letter also mentioned that a container of Colchicine could be found under his vehicle’s passenger seat. Thus, they brought him in for questioning in December 2015.
Although he claimed innocence, the investigators convinced him to let them inspect his Jeep for possible clues related to the case. Upon searching the vehicle, they came across the bottle of Colchicine, right where it was mentioned in the letter. Next, they cross-checked his alibi at the time Mary was poisoned and learned that he had visited one of his sisters in Long Island several days prior and was there until he heard the news of his mother’s tragic passing. After hitting yet another dead end, the detectives had little hope of cracking the case anytime soon, but things changed when they interviewed Adam’s former girlfriend, Kaitlyn “Katie” Conley, who was the receptionist at the Yoders’ chiropractic practice for about four years.
Detectives Turned Their Attention to the Receptionist
After admitting that she sent the authorities the letter that blamed Adam for the murder, the police dug deeper into her life and her relationship with Adam. They learned that the two dated for a couple of years, and Kaitlyn met Mary through him before she began working for her. According to the show, Adam and Kaitlyn’s relationship began deteriorating when the former believed that she had been unfaithful to him. At some point in their relationship, she also claimed that he sexually assaulted her and almost strangled her to death. When the relationship reached its breaking point, they broke up but she continued working for his mother. In April 2015, when he asked for something that would help him concentrate better on his studies, Kaitlyn reportedly prescribed him supplements that made him severely sick.
When the authorities looked at her digital history around the time of the murder, they found out that she had searched for lethal poisons and even created a fake email ID of Adam to order the poison and frame him. Moreover, her DNA was also on the bottle of Colchicine they discovered in her ex-boyfriend’s vehicle. According to the detectives’ theory, Kaitlyn put a lethal amount of Colchicine in Mary’s drink in order to get back at Adam for breaking off their relationship. In light of all these pieces of evidence against her, she was arrested in June 2016 and charged with second-degree murder of Dr. Mary Yoder.
Serving Her Sentence, Kaitlyn “Katie” Conley is Attempting to Get Her Conviction Overturned
Almost two years after Mary Yoder’s demise, in April 2017, Kaitlyn “Katie” Conley stood on trial for her murder. However, despite having a strong case against the defendant, the prosecution was surprised when the jury turned out to be deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial. Still in pursuit of justice for the victim, the prosecution worked harder to gain more evidence against Kaitlyn by the time the retrial got underway. The second trial turned out to be in favor of the prosecution as on November 6, 2017, the jury returned with a guilty verdict and convicted her of the lesser charge — first-degree manslaughter.
In January 2018, she was sentenced to 23 years in prison with the possibility of parole. Mary’s son and Kaitlyn’s former boyfriend, Adam Yoder, addressed the court, “I hate the defendant with every bone in my body and every drop of blood in my veins.” After her sentencing, the convict maintained her innocence and stated, “With all respect to the justice system, I’m innocent.” Following her sentencing, she appealed her conviction twice in 2021, once in March and again in September 2021. Her appeal was denied both times, and the court upheld her conviction.
Arguing that she had ineffective counsel during both her trials, she filed more motions in August 2022 and November 2023 to get her conviction overturned but failed each time. More recently, another one of her appeals was denied by the court in February 2024. As of today, Kaitlyn Conley is incarcerated at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in Bedford Hills, New York, with her parole eligibility date set for 2037.
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