Remember the killer pastor? 4 lesser-known Stanislaus cases featured on crime shows
It’s no secret that crime occurs in Stanislaus County. Modesto didn’t get the tagline “more than just murder” for no reason.
For this, the region has been featured on a number of true-crime shows, documentaries and podcasts. The crimes either happened here or have ties to the area.
There are likely a number of high-profile killers and cases that initially come to mind: Scott Peterson, the Ranzo murders, the Salida cult quadruple murder, the Zodiac killer, the Golden State killer, Heaven’s Gate cult and the Yosemite slayings. The following shows featured lesser-known incidents in Stanislaus County — three murders and one strange occurrence.
Forensic Files
Season 10, episode 18
“Forensic Files” tells the stories of crimes that were solved using forensic evidence — sometimes evidence that killers wouldn’t suspect to get them caught. In an episode called “Picture This,” the narrator explains how weeds helped solved the 1995 murder of 14-year-old Beyer High School student Genna Gamble.
After Kathy Mouser came home from work on Saturday, Oct. 14, 1995, she reported her daughter, Genna Gamble, missing. The next day, Gamble’s nude body was found in a ditch near Waterford.
The cause of death was strangulation, and other injuries included blunt force trauma to the head and post-mortem pressure marks.
While checking alibis of those close to Gamble, detectives started to zero in on her stepdad, Doug Mouser. Coincidentally, security cameras at his place of work and at Jack in the Box, where Mouser said he went to lunch, were not working.
“When he went into (Lawrence Livermore Lab), he’s gotta go through a security gate where all the cars that are coming in are cleared,” former Modesto Bee reporter Michael G. Mooney said on the show. “Initially, the person who was in the booth at the time said he didn’t remember seeing him or his car come through.”
Ultimately, common yellow star thistle found underneath Doug Mouser’s car was the only forensic evidence that is said to have connected him to the area where Gamble’s body was found. This, in addition to marks on Gamble’s thigh that could’ve been made by a seatbelt in Doug Mouser’s car — and his lack of a solid alibi — are what caused him to be charged and found guilty of the murder.
The motive was theorized to be anger caused by Gamble’s behavior. Doug Mouser has been denied parole at each of his five hearings since 2011.
Snapped
Season 27, episode 14
“Snapped” is an Oxygen network show that focuses on women convicted of murder, oftentimes killing their partner, family member or somebody associated with either. This episode tells the story of convicted killer Suze Adams of Turlock, who killed her romantic rival, 43-year-old Kristina Soult.
As a waitress in Turlock, Soult met IHOP cook Fortino Godoy and dated him for around 16 years. However, Godoy wasn’t as dedicated to Soult as she was to him.
In June 2004, Godoy left their shared home to get a pack of cigarettes and did not return. As it turns out, he left to stay with his other girlfriend of around five years, AJ’s Café & Grill waitress Suze Adams.
Adams and Soult had an ongoing battle over Godoy. On March 25, 2004, Adams set a small blaze to Soult’s home, which at the time was ruled accidental.
On June 18, 2004, and a week after Godoy left Soult’s house, another fire at the residence was much more devastating, resulting in Soult’s death.
After a few theories, including that Soult’s son Michael Vanek was involved, suspicion fell on Adams. It was determined that the fatal fire was started with rosemary from Adams’ porch soaked in rubbing alcohol.
“Suze’s motive was to get rid of the competition,” then-Deputy District Attorney (now Stanislaus Superior Court judge) Jeff Mangar said on the show. “This was a love triangle and Suze wanted to get rid of the other lady.”
Adams was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in 2007.
Dateline
Season 18, episode 70
Premiering in 1992, “Dateline” is NBC’s longest-running series and pioneered the true-crime genre. In 2010, the show aired the story of how one man went from a beloved Hickman pastor and wrestling coach to a convicted killer.
Tight-fisted millionaire Frank Craig was a junk collector, some would call it. But he called his collection “treasures,” and stored it all on his 17-acre ranch in the Stanislaus County town.
Craig had dreams of building an agriculture museum to display his collection of farm implements and chose Pastor Howard “Doug” Porter to help him. Porter apparently offered to help for free, whereas setting up a nonprofit organization and a board to oversee it would have cost Craig a few thousand dollars.
Craig amended his trust and will in 1999 to direct his assets upon his death to Porter and Hickman Community Church.
Porter spoke to a real estate agent who, in a meeting with both men, formed an idea to create an agricultural and Christian heritage museum on an empty 14-acre lot behind the church. The site would serve as a church community center with plans for a baseball field, an amphitheater and a multipurpose building.
Plans started to fail and hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on a project that hadn’t even begun when, in March 2002, Porter was driving with Craig as his passenger and the pair were involved in a solo-vehicle crash near La Grange. Porter walked away relatively unscathed, while Craig was left disabled.
Craig suspected the crash was not an accident, according to Modesto Bee archives, and wondered what was happening with his money and the progression of the project.
As suspicions grew and Craig’s money started dwindling, another crash — again with Porter at the wheel and Craig as a passenger — occurred in April 2004. Porter, driving Craig’s truck this time, veered into the Turlock Irrigation District’s Ceres main canal, killing the 85-year-old. Porter again walked away from the crash.
A two-year investigation by the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office ensued. Meanwhile, Porter sold Craig’s ranch, listed his own 15-acre La Grange family complex with a lake for sale, resigned as pastor of Hickman Community Church and began developing a ministry in Mexico.
The investigation was prolonged by the District Attorney’s Office being focused on the Scott Peterson case, Bee archives say.
In the end, investigators calculated that $1.1 million of Craig’s money was siphoned to Porter. Porter was found guilty of four charges ranging from theft from an elder by a caretaker to first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Porter’s conviction divided the town. “I wrote about a mother and her daughter who no longer speak,” former Bee columnist Jeff Jardine said on the show. “The daughter stayed in the church. The mother had left it.”
Unsolved Mysteries
Season four, episode 10
“Unsolved Mysteries” is a documentary-style shows that features cold-case crimes, paranormal experiences, disappearances and other unexplained phenomena.
While not a involving crime, a segment in this episode talks of the remarkable occurrence of pets getting separated from their owners and managing to travel hundreds of miles back to them.
Sue Anderson from Baltimore, Maryland, was making a cross-country move to Modesto and traveling with her five cats, including one named Nova. After a 10-day drive, they stopped to rest around 200 miles from Modesto, the show says.
Nova escaped overnight and Anderson was forced to continue her journey after an unsuccessful search. The episode describes how a year later, outside her workplace, Anderson came across a stray cat that resembled Nova.
“She had a mole inside her ear, she had five or six distinguishing white hairs on her chest and she let me look at her claws and I could identify her claws,” Anderson said on the show. “All these things were adding up that this was, indeed, my cat.”
An animal behaviorist on the show explained how it could have happened and said that she could neither prove it nor could anyone else disprove it.
This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 10:04 AM with the headline "Remember the killer pastor? 4 lesser-known Stanislaus cases featured on crime shows."
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