A notorious Trumbull County murder case with an element of international drama is coming Thursday to the A&E network.

In March 2007, Maj. Karl Hoerig, a former Air Force pilot who flew commercially, was shot to death in his Newton Falls home and his body was covered by a construction tarp.

Reports show Hoerig’s third wife, Claudia, took off in her BMW and, using her husband’s flight credentials, booked a flight to her homeland of Brazil where the naturalized American citizen still maintained citizenship.

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins filed aggravated murder charges against Claudia Hoerig and a grand jury indicted her. So began an almost decadelong quest to bring her to justice.

Watkins gave credit for the success to the Hoerig family, his staff, Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office investigators, the U.S. Marshals service and officials within the U.S. government, including U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Howland.

In April 2016, Brazilian officials finally allowed Claudia’s extradition to move forward, after revoking her Brazilian citizenship in 2013. She was taken into custody and eventually returned to the United States — after Watkins lobbied both the U.S. Attorney General and Secretary of State’s offices.

Watkins said he believes the final link to getting Hoerig to face prosecution was a CBS “48 Hours” episode that highlighted his quest to bring the Brazilian native to justice, broadcast in late 2017.

Hoerig arrived at the Trumbull County jail on the night of Jan. 17, 2018, and was questioned by sheriff detectives after she started confessing to the murder of her husband while on the plane ride with two U.S. marshals.

A new A&E series, “Interrogation Raw” will present an episode about the details of how Hoerig’s confession was extracted by U.S. Marshal Bill Bolden and his colleague. Trumbull County Sheriff’s detective Michael Yannucci also will discuss how he took up where federal agents left off in the interrogation of Hoerig after she was booked into Trumbull County jail.

PROMINENT ROLE

Watkins also will play a prominent part in the hourlong episode that will air 10 p.m. Thursday on the A&E network.

Watkins credited the work of Bolden and Yannucci in helping to get a conviction from a Trumbull County jury in 2019 that sent Hoerig to prison for 30 years.

“Criminal cases can be won or lost in the interrogation room,” Liz Schmidt, a senior director for A&E, said. “This new series will explore the delicate twists and turns of some of the most fascinating interrogations ever done.”

Watkins said two television crews came to his fourth-floor office in the Trumbull County Administration Building to shoot his interview with two reporters in mid-October 2021.

Watkins worked with producer Lance Hori, who works for the Category 6 Media company that produced the series for A&E.

Hori said he wanted to highlight the extraordinary efforts undertaken by local officials to bring Hoerig to justice after so many years.

“We will be telling this story through law enforcement’s perspective as well as humanizing Maj. Karl D. Hoerig and underscoring the impact of his murder on his family and the community,” Hori said.

Hori characterized Watkins’ role in the case as one of the “utmost importance,” and he personally pursued an interview with the prosecutor during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Watkins usually is reluctant to join television enterprises involving Claudia Hoerig because they so often tell the story from the criminal’s point of view. He said producers assured him this A&E telecast was to focus only on the investigators.

“I get pretty particular when talking to these people. Sometimes TV people come in with an agenda. Well, I have an agenda, too … I want to make sure that our victims of crimes are shown in the best possible light,” Watkins said.