Mark Stover Trained Dogs for the Stars — Then He Vanished, and a Twisted Tale of Love and Violence Emerged

For years, heiress Linda Opdycke says she lived in fear of her ex-husband, celebrity trainer T. Mark Stover.

The two dated for 11 years and started their own dog training business before they made their relationship official in 2002 with a Las Vegas wedding.

Blonde and beautiful, Opdycke was considered a local celebrity as a member of one of the most powerful families in Washington State. Her late father, Wallace Opdycke, made a fortune as the co-owner of the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery and K2 Ski Corporation.

Over the years, Stover also built a name for himself as a dog trainer to the stars, with clients including Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder, Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki. 

When their romance began to falter, he became obsessive and began stalking her, she said in the 2011 48 Hours episode, “The Dog Trainer, the Heiress and the Bodyguard.”

“He was driving all over the state to try to find me,” Opdycke told 48 Hours. “I probably had 50 or 100 calls on any given day. …He told me he would hunt me down and he was going to ruin my life.”

When the couple separated in 2005, she said she feared for her safety. To protect herself, she took self-defense classes and armed herself with numerous guns.

She also sought help from security expert Michiel Oakes. Over the many weeks and months they spent together, they ended up falling in love.

Then, the unthinkable happened. In a shocking turn of events in October 2009, Stover went missing from his Washington State home. His body has never been found. 

Police sought out Oakes for questioning, with his lawyer calling the case “a big whodunnit,” Seattle Weekly reported.

Was Stover the stalked — or the stalker? This is the question that “48 Hours” correspondent Peter Van Sant will answer in the new, six-episode CBS News podcast, Trained to Kill: The Dog Trainer, the Heiress and the Bodyguard.  (An exclusive trailer is below)

Debuting on April 9 on Apple, the podcast goes in-depth on the dark love triangle between Opdycke, Oakes and Stover and the twists and turns after Stover’s mysterious disappearance.

Van Sant is no stranger to podcasts. The venerable broadcast journalist’s 2024 podcast, Blood is Thicker Than Water hit number-one on Apple podcast charts.

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Stover’s disappearance is a story Van Sant knows well, having covered the case previously on 48 Hours.

On Oct. 29, 2009, police called to Stover’s Skagit Island home for a welfare check were hit with a suspicious and overwhelming smell of bleach. Shortly after, they found Stover’s beloved German Shepherd, Dingo, wounded after being shot three times in the face.

The six-part podcast series unravels the twisted tale of Stover, his ex-wife, the heiress, and the bodyguard.

The podcast will be available on Apple and everywhere you get your podcasts starting 4/9.