This week on 48 Hours On ID is the mystery of what happened to Alex Woodworth from Eau Claire in Wisconsin in 2018, who was found stabbed to death.
His murderer would turn out to be his ex-girlfriend, Ezra McCandless, who then concocted a tale that made her seem like a victim.
On March 22, 2018, Ezra McCandless arrived at a dairy farmer’s house claiming she’d been attacked and that she needed a doctor. She appeared extremely dazed, shaken, and she had some superficial injuries. Most intriguingly and worryingly, she had the word “boy” carved into her arm.
McCandless initially claimed to have no memory of what had happened to her; she couldn’t even remember her name. However, as the investigation continued, she was able to divulge that she’d been attacked on a remote muddy road by ex-boyfriend Alex Woodworth.
The police mobilized an extensive search to hunt down Woodworth, believing he was a dangerous criminal on the run. But then everything changed when they found Woodworth’s body lying in the backseat footwell of a vehicle with 16 stab wounds in his body. Investigators working the case said they’d never before seen such extreme violence.
Was Ezra McCandless actually a vicious killer?
The cops very quickly realized that McCandless had been the killer, but also needed to determine if she was acting in self-defense or if this was cold-blooded murder.
Many were surprised by the idea that McCandless was capable of such a crime; she came across as meek and timid with a slight stature and a fun-loving outlook on life. However, the authorities were not fooled for long.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelThe State argued that McCandless had lured her ex-boyfriend to a remote location under the pretense of discussing their relationship. She then stabbed him sixteen times before carving her arm to make it look like she was the victim.
In November 2019, McCandless was found guilty of murdering Alex Woodworth, and the following February, she was sentenced to life in prison. The judge stated that she would be eligible for parole after 50 years when she will be 72 years old.
More from 48 Hours on ID
Follow the links to read about more murders profiled on 48 Hours on ID.
In another mystery spotlighted on 48 Hours on ID, Chacey Poynter played the role of a distraught wife who had just seen her husband Captain Robert Poynter shot to death on a rural road in Texas. However, she had lured him to the spot where her lover, Michael Garza, had pulled the trigger.
Technical Sergeant Curtis Eccleston was murdered by his wife and the man she was having an affair with on an army base in Okinawa, Japan. Barbara Keiko persuaded Air Force Staff Sgt. Nicholas Cron to slash her husband to death with a box cutter.
48 Hours on ID airs at 10/9c on Investigation Discovery.