A MARILYN MONROE LOOK-ALIKE MADE MONEY POSTING PHOTOS ON ONLYFANS - DID IT COST THE WOMAN HER LIFE?

"48 Hours" Investigates in "The Mysterious Death of Kat West"

The Broadcast Also Features the First Television Interview with Lauren Kwei

Saturday, April 10

Kat West's lifeless body was found outside of her home by a neighbor who noticed her lying partially dressed in the street. Police soon learned the 42-year-old stay-at-home mom had an active social media life, including an active OnlyFans account. Authorities initially considered whether an overzealous fan caused her death.

Correspondent Maureen Maher and 48 HOURS investigate the night West died and her life on and offline in "The Mysterious Death of Kat West" to be broadcast Saturday, April 10 (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. The broadcast also features the first television interview with Lauren Kwei, a paramedic in New York City who made headlines when a newspaper exposed her for posting nude images on OnlyFans.

West was far from the average mom in Calera, Ala., which made her death even more intriguing.

"A beautiful woman, nude in a street, in a nice subdivision," says reporter Carol Robinson, a CBS News consultant. "That is what doesn't happen every day around here. And that is what drove this story."

Kat West had hundreds of fans on OnlyFans, a subscription-only website popular with celebrities and social media influencers alike, where content providers and consumers can communicate. Just last week, 18-year-old rapper "Bhad Bhabie" made more than $1 million dollars posting lifestyle content on OnlyFans in only six hours.

"It's sort of the happy median between ... porn and 'The Brady Bunch,'" Robinson says of OnlyFans.

Like many, Kat West had used the site to post adult content.

For three years, Maher and 48 HOURS have been investigating her death. It's a case about an unconventional marriage, a mom with a fixation on Marilyn Monroe and the question of whether her online life could have led to her death.

Lauren Kwei knows some of the risks of OnlyFans all too well. When she couldn't live on a paramedic's modest salary in New York City, Kwei turned to the popular platform as a way to make ends meet, posting nudes under an alias. She says her world exploded last December when The New York Post went public with her full name, the name of her employer and even where she lived.

"I definitely wish things had gone differently in my experience, however ... I'm pretty proud of who I am today," Kwei says in her first television interview.

Generating money from subscribers was a way to survive in New York City, she says, adding that she worried about the risks of being so exposed on the internet. And while she lost her anonymity, Kwei says she knows that, by being outed online, she could have lost a lot more.

"Sometimes I think about Kat West and I think about where she would be today and how much more of her life she could have fulfilled," Kwei says.

But how did Kat West die? Was it murder and if so by whom? Could it have been an accident?

There were many things about her death that struck police as odd. At the death scene, Kat's husband Jeff was oddly reserved, police say. She was found with a fatal head wound and a bottle of absinthe lying on top of her phone nearby.

"It just did not seem right that it ... would have landed in such a way ... other than being staged," says Calera Police Sgt. Mike Mehlhoff.

Police focused their investigation on Jeff West, though two of the last people viewers might expect believe strongly in his innocence.

48 HOURS and Maher report on Kat West's death through interviews with her family, friends, police and more. 48 HOURS: "The Mysterious Death of Kat West" is produced by Josh Yager and Lauren A. White. Ryan N. Smith is the development producer. Elizabeth Caholo is the field producer. George Baluzy, Greg Kaplan, Joan Adelman, Diana Modica, and Grayce Arlotta-Berner are the editors. Peter Schweitzer is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.

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