Naman Shrestha
Delving on the mysterious murder of Dr. Mary Yoder, Hulu’s ‘Little Miss Innocent: Passion. Poison. Prison.’ sheds light on the convicted killer, Kaitlyn “Katie” Conley, who has been maintaining her innocence even years after her sentencing. Not only that, she and her loved ones pointed their fingers at the victim’s husband and son, William “Bill” Yoder and Adam Yoder, claiming that their hands were covered in blood and not hers.
William “Bill” Yoder Ran a Chiropractic Clinic With His Wife Mary
The paths of Dr. William Robert Yoder and Mary Louise Bakert crossed in 1975 while they were young individuals pursuing a degree in Chiropractic Medicine from Life Chiropractic College. The former graduated in 1985, while the latter passed out a year later. Before that, he also used to be a Philosophy Professor for about a decade, teaching philosophy courses at the University of Buffalo, Vassar College, and Furman University. After dating for a while, the pair realized they wanted to spend the rest of their lives in each other’s company. After settling into life as a married couple, William and Mary welcomed three kids — Liana, Tamaryn, and Adam, who filled their world with joy and laughter.
With love and dedication, the two had built a beautiful life for themselves and their children in Whitesboro, New York. They put their professional knowledge to good use and also became partners in business when they started a chiropractic care practice on Oriskany Boulevard. Over two decades — 28 years to be precise, William and Mary’s family-run clinic, Chiropractic Family Care, had gained immense repute among the locals. In their downtime, the pair spent time with their kids and grandkids, whom they doted upon. Meanwhile, he also wrote and published a couple of books — ‘Lighted Clearings for the Soul: Reclaiming the Joy of Living’ in 2004 and ‘The Happy Mind: Seven Principles to Clear Your Head and Lift Your Heart’ in 2010.
William is Under Public Scrutiny as Many Still Believe He Was Involved in Mary’s Murder
With a thriving business and a loving family, William and Mary were quite content in life. However, everything fell apart in the latter’s life in 2015. On July 20, William got worried when his beloved wife complained of an upset stomach and appeared “pale and sweaty and looked thoroughly drained.” When her health showed no signs of improvement by the next morning, he took her to Faxton-St. Luke’s Healthcare Center and admitted her. Unfortunately, even after spending an entire day under the care of doctors and nurses, his wife suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away on July 22. He immediately informed their kids, who rushed to the hospital, where their mother was admitted. Months later, Mary’s death was declared to be caused by Colchicine poisoning, resulting in the launch of a murder investigation.
By then, he and one of his wife’s sisters became each other’s shoulder and, eventually, fell in love. Soon, William became a person of interest in the eyes of the investigators as they searched for potential motives for him to kill his own wife. The fact that he moved on in a matter of a few months with his wife’s widowed sister was also found suspicious by the detectives. But when no concrete evidence against him showed up, they ruled him out as a suspect. However, the emergence of the Free Kaitlyn Conley campaign saw him become a possible suspect in the eyes of the public. This might be one of the reasons the Whitesboro resident has decided to stay off of social media and lead a more private life.
Adam Yoder Stays Away From the Prying Eyes of the Media and Public
Besides William “Bill” Yoder, another member of the Yoder family was suspected of foul play in the poisoning death of Dr. Mary Yoder in 2015 — their son, Adam Yoder. His name emerged in the investigation when the police received an anonymous letter sent by his former girlfriend, Kaitlyn Conley, in November 2015, blaming him for murdering his own mother with a lethal amount of Colchicine. Things got worse for him when the authorities found a bottle of poison underneath the passenger seat of his vehicle. This wasn’t the first time he was accused of something by Kaitlyn.
During the course of their relationship, she had accused Adam of sexually assaulting her and trying to strangle her to death. In contrast, a few months prior to the demise of Mary, he was allegedly given supplements by Kaitlyn to help him improve his focus on studying, but he ended up falling sick because of them. Despite his claims of innocence and a lack of motive, the authorities dug deep into his whereabouts at the time of his mother’s death just to ensure that they didn’t miss anything. The investigators learned that he had traveled to the Long Island house of one of his sisters five days before the tragedy and had been staying there when William informed him about it.
During the trial of Kaitlyn, the defense focused on his history of alcohol use, alleged abuse of the defendant, and instances when he lost his cool and pointed the finger at him being the real culprit. In response, Adam admitted that he is only guilty of introducing Kaitlyn to his mother, who employed her at the family chiropractic clinic. Opening up about his feelings toward the convict, he addressed the court, “I hate the defendant with every bone in my body and every drop of blood in my veins.” After her sentencing, he too decided to go off the public radar like William, while the Free Kaitlyn Conley campaign continues to blame him for the murder as well.
