The latest episode of True Conviction on Investigation Discovery features the case of Nancy Klinger, who was murdered by Larry Thomas Hite.
When Klinger, a single mother of three, learned that she would receive extra money to help crack a black market baby ring, she didn’t hesitate to meet up with a man, Hite, claiming to be an undercover investigator with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Klinger, 28, of Riverside, California, was under the impression that she would pose as a wife, but what she didn’t know was that it was all a lie.
On August 29, 1986, Klinger dropped her children — all under the age of eight — off at her babysitter’s house and met up with Hite outside a bar in East Highland and never returned to pick up her kids.
In March 1988, her skeletal remains were found in a remote area near Seven Oaks Dam in Highland, which prompted an investigation, but Klinger’s case quickly turned cold.
Riverside police suspected Hite of murdering Klinger, but there was no evidence linking him to the crime. Therefore, he moved on with his life, moving to Arizona where he sexually assaulted two women.
When Hite returned to California, police re-opened Klinger’s case, and it was at that time that Hite confessed to murdering her, according to San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson.
In 2015, Hite was found guilty of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. He was later found dead in his cell at Kern Valley State Prison, and police officials believe he was killed by his cellmate.
True Conviction — Death Undercover, airs at 10/9c on Investigation Discovery.