CHRISTIAN COUNTY, KY. (WSMV) - The family and friends of Christian “Kit” Martin at first lied to detectives when investigators were searching for a mysterious box that they would later learn contained weapons belonging to the convicted murderer, a WSMV4 Investigation found.
WSMV4 Investigates first reported Tuesday that Martin directed the family to find a box, hidden beneath the stairs of his previous home in North Carolina, that contained weapons that deputies believe were used to kill Martin’s victims.
A WSMV4 Investigation in 2016 first exposed that Cal Phillips, the first murder victim, was set to testify against Kit Martin in his upcoming court-martial, but Cal, his wife Pam and neighbor Ed Dansereau were all murdered two weeks before that court martial.
While considered the prime suspect in the murders, Martin moved to Raleigh, North Carolina with his fiancé Lara Spencer and became an American Airlines pilot.
Martin made national headlines when he was pulled off an American Airlines jet and arrested, ultimately found guilty in the triple murders and sentenced to life in prison.
In his first interview, the lead detective on the case, Lt. Scott Smith, told WSMV4 Investigates that when Martin made phone calls from prison after his conviction, he asked his sisters to retrieve a box hidden under the stairs of the Raleigh house, as he and Spencer had broken up and the house was for sale.
“He was definitely urgent that she find it,” Smith said.
Smith said when he and a fellow deputy arrived at the house in Raleigh to find out what was in the box, they were able to gain entrance, but the box was missing from its hidden location.
“I can’t imagine what you felt when you opened it up, you’d come all this way, and it was gone. What do you think?” asked WSMV4 Investigates.
“I thought it was time to get to work,” Smith said.
According to Smith’s investigative report he compiled following the trip to Raleigh, he began to try and track down Martin’s family, speaking first with Martin’s sister Juliet Andes and her husband Keith.
“At first they denied having any knowledge of it,” Smith said.
But an hour later, the investigative report shows the Andes got back in touch with Smith, telling a different story.
In a recorded call between the Andes, Keith admits that he removed the box from within the stairs, and saw the .22 Ar-15 and a long box inside.
“I don’t even remember. The gun freaked me out. I just put the s*** back,” Keith Andes said.
“We did not ask for any of this,” Juliet Andes can be heard saying in the call. “We don’t want to be involved in any of this.”
While Keith Andes said he didn’t know what was in the long box inside, deputies would later learn it was a silencer.
Smith believes both the AR-15 and the silencer were used in the murders.
The deputies were then faced with a confounding question: if Keith Andes had put the box back within the stairs, why was it gone?
According to Smith, Andes said it had been picked up by Emma Spencer, the daughter of Martin’s ex-fiance.
“How do you address the elephant in the room with these people that they are now passing off weapons from a man convicted of triple murder?” asked WSMV4 Investigates.
“Until I had retrieved the items, I had to play in between everybody’s emotions,” Smith said.
Smith said when he first contacted Emma Spencer, who had testified on behalf of her mother’s ex-fiance at the trial, she was not cooperative.
“At first, she’s acting like she doesn’t know anything about it. She’s very standoffish,” Smith said. “I told her I don’t want her to get into any trouble being in possession of something that is regulated by the ATF.”
Spencer’s call with the deputy was also recorded.
“I have a couple of questions for you if you have a few minutes,” asked Smith.
“I’m at work,” Spencer said.
“I’m calling in reference to some items I’ve been told you moved out of a stairwell,” Smith said. “Where did they go to from there? Do you know?”
“My neighbor has it,” Spencer said.
Smith then tracked down Spencer’s neighbor, who confirmed that he was given the .22 AR-15, but that Spencer still had the silencer.
Smith also said that when Spencer and her neighbor collected the weapons, they did report them to local law enforcement, but because they weren’t stolen, they weren’t confiscated.
Smith said upon learning that Spencer still had the silencer, he once again called her but she did not respond.
Soon after, Smith said Spencer’s mother, Lara, called and said that Spencer was now taking the silencer to local law enforcement.
Smith said he then asked if Emma Spencer could instead turn the silencer over to him.
When Emma Spencer showed up, Smith said she was not pleased.
“In a nice way to put it, she said, here this is, now get out of North Carolina and never come back,” Smith said.
“How do you respond when somebody says that to you?” asked WSMV4 Investigates.
“I said thank you for bringing this to me, this kept you out of a lot of trouble,” Smith said.
WSMV4 Investigates reached out to the Andes, but they did not respond.
WSMV4 Investigates did communicate with Spencer through texts, who wrote in part, “If any information I give you is to discredit me or Kit, you can kindly piss off.”
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