In February 2009, Tom Foley called Coldwater, Michigan’s 911 operators in a panic to report a probable murder at his home. First responders saw his wife, Darlene ‘Dar’ Foley, lying in a pool of blood on the bathroom floor when they got to the scene. The documentary “Dateline: Mystery at Heath Bar Farm” details the horrific crime and shows how the police worked to apprehend the offender. Let’s explore the specifics of the crime and discover more about Dar’s murder.
How Did Dar Foley Die?
Darlene “Dar” Foley, a local of Coldwater, Michigan, passed away at the age of 41. Together with her husband, Tom Foley, they had created a lovely life and were the proud parents of their son, Heath. Dar was also quite close to her family, and she had a special relationship with her sisters Ladana, Lynn, and Marla. Interestingly, those who knew her spoke of her as a loving and compassionate person who enjoyed lending a hand to those in need. Dar worked as an elementary school teacher, but her family came first to her, and she put them ahead of anything else.
Dar was also still amicable with most people, which made her untimely death all the more tragic. Tom Foley, who had a panicked and terrified voice, called Coldwater 911 on February 7, 2009. He said he was doing some little housework when he heard a gunshot and discovered his wife unconscious on the toilet floor. Within minutes, emergency personnel arrived, but it was too late; Dar had already died away. The couple’s son Heath and his friend Skylar Wattie were playing nearby when the cops arrived on the scene and discovered a completely distraught Tom.
The restroom, incidentally, had blood splatters all over the wall and appeared to be straight out of a horror film. Dar was lying in a pool of blood on the floor, and the window going outside was also smashed. After that, a preliminary medical examination revealed the victim had suffered significant head wounds from bullets. Dar was fatally injured and killed after being shot with a shotgun at point blank range, according to an autopsy. Additionally, although the reality was very different, the cops discovered preliminary evidence of a heist gone awry.
Who Killed Dar Foley?
During the initial inquiry, law enforcement officials discovered potential robbery evidence; nevertheless, warning signals of a planned homicide soon emerged. The bathroom window had a broken pane, but other than that, there was no sign that somebody had really broken into the residence. Nothing seemed to have been taken from the home, and a DNA scan of the bathroom turned up no evidence of any foreign intruders. The police were confident that an intruder would have left muddy footsteps because the weather had made the area rather moist.
However, a comprehensive investigation of the property failed to turn up any evidence of the invader, not even a single footprint. The police opted to question Heath and his friend Skylar while they were playing video games at the residence just before Dar’s death because Tom Foley had already insisted on his innocence. When questioned, both stated that Tom had entered their room and urged them to play outside near the barn minutes prior to the horrifying homicide. Skylar added that she and Dar were the only people in the house at the time. They soon heard a loud crash that resembled a gunshot or a window being violently shattered.
The police quickly discovered that Dar had a sizeable life insurance policy to her name, and despite the fact that such a statement made Tom a person of interest in the investigation, he was in a difficult financial condition. In conclusion, the police were persuaded that he killed his wife in order to collect insurance money before making the crime out to be a break-in. Surprisingly, the victim’s sisters agreed with this theory, asserting that Dar and Tom weren’t a compatible couple from the start.
So, with sufficient circumstantial evidence to support an arrest, the police detained Tom and accused him of killing his wife. He asserted his innocence and entered a not-guilty plea after being called to testify. However, the prosecution was able to get Heath and Skylar to give false testimony, and the jury ultimately found Tom guilty of first-degree murder. However, a witness claimed to have seen the murderer before he could be given a punishment. She testified that she observed a white automobile speeding out of the Foley driveway on the day of Dar’s death and even got a good look at the driver, who didn’t resemble Tom.
Two hours after Dar’s death, two more witnesses came forward and said they had all seen the same white car, either parked close to the Foley home or driving away. Tom was granted a fresh trial as a result of this new knowledge; the prosecution had called several witnesses to try to portray Tom as an unfaithful spouse, but this had no bearing on the result. Ultimately, in 2011, the jury cleared Tom Foley of all charges after deliberating the evidence. Dar’s murder hasn’t been solved, though, and the case hasn’t moved forward very much since then.
