The 48 Hours episode ‘Crime & Punishment’ recounts the 1992 disappearance and murder of 32-year-old Phonthip Boonack Ott. Weeks after she was reported missing, a fisherman found her body in a duffel bag filled with blocks of concrete. The prime suspect was her husband Dennis Samuel Ott, stepfather of Phonthip’s two daughters, aged 14 and 10. Ott was convicted and sentenced to 25 years to life for the murder of his wife. Twenty-five years have passed and Ott is up for parole from Solano State Prison. And although Ott still maintains his innocence, Phonthip’s two daughters say they will do anything to make sure he doesn’t make parole.
Ott was denied parole in 2000 and 2015. In addition to the sisters’ effort to block Ott’s parole, the Sutter County Sheriff’s Department sent a letter to the Board of Parole Hearings to oppose his release. Sheriff Jonathan Paul Parker said of Ott: “It takes a dangerous breed of cat to murder somebody, stuff them in a bag and deprive her children forever.” 48 Hours airs Saturdays at 10pm on CBS.
