00:00:00
[Music] Hey, who car? Where's my kid? I don't care. Where is my kid? It's a blur.
00:00:17
Will y'all tell me something? Where's my kid? Where is she at? I didn't know anything. I just wanted her to be okay.
00:00:30
She's alive. Come here. She's not alive. I want to see my child. I just needed to know. Is
00:00:37
she alive or is she dead? Libby Lewis, where is she? Where is she at? You don't want to sound cliche, but
00:00:50
Libby was a perfect child. She was kind and loving. That's why she went into nursing. She obviously had something
00:00:57
about her that she loved to take care of people. She was selfless. Where is my child? I told you where your
00:01:05
child in this car. What car? She's in this car right here behind us. I didn't know if I wanted to believe
00:01:15
that she was in that car. I didn't want her to be cuz if she wasn't she was then it was real and she was gone.
00:01:28
How y'all doing? Who was the one that actually drove by? You saw it first. So I pulled over and I seen threw out my
00:01:35
passenger seat and I was like she must be just slumped over. Maybe she's just drinking. The door was already open and
00:01:41
I go I was like hey like I shook her and that's when I called 911. 911. [Music] So what are they looking like? Y
00:01:57
6:00 in the morning. I'm at home when my telephone rings. Sheriff wanted me to come in sit
00:02:07
with Matthew at the hospital. All right, Matthew. Matthew Edgar, right? Yeah. And
00:02:12
while I was there, I interviewed him. I have no clue why I No clue. You have a girlfriend?
00:02:21
Kind of. Girlfriend named Libby. He was found in the fetal position behind the vehicle that Levy was found in. When's
00:02:28
the last time you saw Libby? He remembers drinking on his porch and the next thing he remembered he was
00:02:35
waking up in the back of an ambulance. You don't know how you ended up on the ground behind the car? I think so. With
00:02:41
the dead girl in I don't have a clue. There was a rifle, some shoes, and a hat also on the ground. That's his boot. He
00:02:52
was laying there beside him. How'd you get all the blood all over your face? I don't know. Cuz the hospital
00:02:58
said you don't have any injuries. What are you thinking? I'm thinking that he's not telling me the truth. He's just
00:03:05
basically telling you a Texas fairy tale. Right. Correct. I'm going to be flat out honest with you. But
00:03:11
unfortunately, there is a deceased female in that vehicle that's in front of yours. And my job is to find out why
00:03:18
she's dead. Who missed the dead? Did they tell you a name? Libby. I informed him that Miss Lewis had passed. He
00:03:27
started with this what I would describe as forced crying. Did you see any tears?
00:03:31
Not a single one. The world seems to think that Matthew Edgar is a murderer. Do you believe that? I do not. Do you
00:03:40
believe that someone else pulled that trigger? I do. I believe it was someone that was close to Matthew, someone that
00:03:47
was involved in events of that evening. We got all the DNA results back and there were some holes in the case. There
00:03:56
were no fingerprints taken or DNA lifted off the gun. There were DNA samples from
00:04:01
Libby that showed there was another man. I have no doubt, and I'm going to make this perfectly clear, Matthew Edgar
00:04:09
killed Miss Lewis. And you put your reputation on that. Absolutely. [Music] [Music]
00:05:01
In the early morning hours of Halloween 2020, a day when the boundaries between the living and the dead become blurred,
00:05:09
Libby Lewis was discovered draped over the steering wheel of her car, dead from a rifle shot to the neck. Here's her ID.
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Libby had just turned 19. I don't know if dispatch has notified her next to Ken or not. It
00:05:25
happened in Hemp Hill, a tiny town in Texas with a population just over 1,000. The kind of place where no one is a
00:05:34
stranger and news spreads like wildfire. Isn't there Darcy Bass's daughter? Yeah,
00:05:41
that's what I That is how Livy's mother, Darcy Bass, heard the news when a friend
00:05:46
called to say that Libby had been shot. You didn't know if she was dead or alive? No.
00:05:53
I want to see my child. And the next time I Yeah. saw her, she was in in a casket. I don't believe it. I don't
00:06:02
believe it. Oh my god. [Music] By all accounts, Libby Lewis was a remarkable young woman, a straight A
00:06:15
student and recent high school grad with a scholarship to a local college. So, I'm Libby Heather Lewis. Just imagining
00:06:23
my future and the goals that I will accomplish makes me excited. Her dream was to go on to college, become a nurse,
00:06:33
and then become a physician's assistant. Libby was already a certified nursing assistant at a local nursing home. She
00:06:41
was loved by all the residents there. That's a tough job, too. Yes. And she loved it. That was her passion. That's
00:06:49
also where she met one of her best friends, fellow nursing assistant Taylor Barnett. We worked together and then she
00:06:56
just started staying with me all the time. Taylor was nearly 6 years older and had a young daughter, but she says
00:07:03
Libby fit right in. If you seen Libby, you seen me. We just clicked like automatically. Bailey Williams met Libby
00:07:10
in kindergarten. She was a person that wanted stability and didn't want to play like the kid games. She was ready to be
00:07:18
grown up. That's probably why Libby fell for an older man, Matthew Edgar, who was
00:07:24
23 when they met. But I was dating a guy who was actually friends with Matthew, so we all just kind of started hanging
00:07:32
out. Libby was still a senior in high school when she and Matthew began a secret
00:07:40
relationship. Matthew was married to Montana Boel, the mother of his two young sons.
00:07:46
Phone records indicate that Libby and Matthew began texting each other in November 2019 when Matthew wrote, "You
00:07:55
do realize you cannot say a word to anybody that we are even texting. LOL." Libby responded, "Well, obviously I'm
00:08:04
not going to brag about texting a married man, but thanks for the clarification." It appears that after a
00:08:10
very brief affair, Libby quickly and firmly ended things. But Matthew wasn't done. About 4
00:08:21
months later, he texted to complain about how unhappy he was in his marriage. "I cheated again," he said.
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"But Libby held her ground. I'm not really down for being a home wrecker," she wrote. Nearly two months later,
00:08:36
Matthew ended his marriage. in this text exchange with his wife where he said, "Ain't you, it's me. Me always cheating
00:08:45
on you." 4 days later, Montana hired a divorce attorney. Matthew moved out and circled back to
00:08:54
Libby. At just 18, Libby was now navigating a relationship with a man who had two young sons and a soontobe
00:09:03
ex-wife. At first, they didn't get along. Libby and Montana didn't uh I think that was out of jealousy on
00:09:10
Montana's behalf. And then it was kind of just like the flip of a switch. All of a sudden, Montana wanted to be Livy's
00:09:16
best friend and they talked all the time. I think in Livy's eyes, she was definitely thinking she had a friend.
00:09:24
And in Montana's eyes, what do you think? I think that she was jealous. I think that some people get close to
00:09:31
people and they have another reasoning behind it. And so do you think in some ways a a dangerous love triangle had
00:09:39
formed? Yes, definitely a dangerous love triangle. Yes, you can call it that. Absolutely. Sabine County Sheriff's
00:09:46
Investigator JP Mcdana questioned Matthew about his relationship with Montana and Libby. What's your
00:09:53
relationship like with both of them? It's awesome. Okay. So, it's not a typical I hate your guts. Hell no. Okay.
00:10:01
It's awesome. Okay. My ex-wife and her, they're big buddies. I just told Libby to just be cautious. You can get along
00:10:09
with her for their children, but don't be too close with her. I mean, because that's his ex-wife. But Taylor says that
00:10:17
as time went by, it was Matthew's behavior that became the most menacing. He was pretty much abusive in more ways
00:10:26
than one. for a little while. He was staying at my house with her and he would just get drunk and crazy and
00:10:34
either holler at her and like it got so bad that like I didn't want him there at
00:10:39
my house anymore. Phone records show that the relationship was a roller coaster ride. While at times Matthew
00:10:46
sent texts to Libby like, "Good night, baby. I love you." Livy's texts alleged physical abuse. I don't know why you
00:10:55
keep putting your hands on me like that. My body hurts today. I think that she was in love with who Matthew could be
00:11:03
cuz she knew who he was and knew that what he was doing to her wasn't right. But she still stayed.
00:11:12
Libby had been planning on moving to her new college campus. But in the summer of
00:11:17
2020, she stayed on that roller coaster ride, agreeing to move in with Matthew and helped take care of him and his
00:11:25
sons. She even redecorated the boys' room. Went to baseball, went to football, went to soccer ball, whatever.
00:11:32
But things seem to have quickly turned ugly. In August of 2020, Libby writes to Matthew, "I want
00:11:44
to be in our home with you, but I can't do the way you act when you drink. I'm scared of you. You've laid your hands on
00:11:53
me multiple times. I deserve better than that." Had she told you at that time that she had been violent? No, she
00:12:01
didn't tell me that. probably figured that I would go do something crazy and she didn't want me probably getting in
00:12:07
trouble. Libby did tell her cousin Sydney Ebar what was going on. She sent you a disturbing photograph. Yes.
00:12:16
Evidence of physical abuse. Correct. Yes, sir. And do you have that photo? I do. Can you show it to me? Yes, sir.
00:12:25
He busted her nose. It's not clear what caused the altercation, but text would later show that Matthew was cheating on
00:12:32
Libby with, of all people, Montana. On October 4th, 2020, Livy's birthday, Matthew texted
00:12:41
Montana. I didn't cheat on Libby with multiple women, just you, lol. He was continuing a relationship on with his
00:12:50
ex-wife and had my daughter in the middle of it, not knowing that she was being manipulated by all of them. I was
00:12:57
in an abusive relationship. So I just said, "Liby, you know it gets worse." And she said, "I know." And I said,
00:13:02
"Okay, I love you." Libby broke up with Matthew. But in a small town like Hemp Hill, you can run, but you can't really
00:13:12
hide. In the early morning hours of Halloween 2020, Matthew and Libby would end up together
00:13:21
again on the side of this road. [Music] The morning Libby Lewis was killed on the side of the road, her ex-boyfriend,
00:13:44
Matthew Edgar, found himself in a hospital bed, claiming he had no idea how he got there. I have no clue why.
00:13:54
Despite the blood on his face, Matthew wasn't injured, but he did admit to sheriff's investigator JP Mcdana that
00:14:01
he'd been drinking. How much? Bottle. Jim Bean. Jim Bean. Anything else? Few beers earlier in the day. He
00:14:11
said he'd been at a party the night before at his friend Bobby Ozan's house. That's when he claims he last saw Libby.
00:14:20
She her wife O was there. Okay. Oh, so you left Bobby's went to your house. You went home? I was at my
00:14:27
house. Okay. And that's where Matthew claims he blacked out and simply can't explain how he ended up in a fetal
00:14:36
position between a black truck that wasn't his and Livy's car. You don't know how you ended up on the
00:14:43
ground behind the car. So with the dead girl in a clue. I got to let it Mcdana took
00:14:51
swabs of the blood on Matthew's face for DNA testing. All right, Matthew, I'm going to do this one on the chin and
00:14:58
Matthew's clothing was taken into evidence. I'm going to go through some of your clothes. Okay. Yes, sir. Then
00:15:05
Mcdana placed Matthew under arrest. Charge is going to be homicide. All right. Now, pay attention to me. I want
00:15:16
you to understand why. Okay. Yes, sir. Okay. You were found behind the vehicle where the deedent was. There was some
00:15:25
kind of relationship between you and her. There is a weapon laying on the ground behind the vehicle close to where
00:15:34
you were found. Okay. Based on that and a few other things, I'm going to place you in
00:15:42
custody right now for homicide. Okay. What's his reaction to that? He had none. But he didn't say you're going to
00:15:50
do what? I didn't do anything. Nothing at all. Nothing at all. With Matthew jailed, Mcdana was on a
00:15:59
legal deadline. According to Texas law, the district attorney's office now had 90
00:16:04
days to present enough evidence to a grand jury to indict Matthew or they would have to release him on bond. So
00:16:12
Mcdana enlisted the help of the Texas Rangers and began piecing together what happened to Libby.
00:16:20
Matthew was just an easy arrest. Shawn Dunn is an old friend of Matthews. He told me, "Hey, look, you know, I didn't
00:16:28
do this. Yes, I was there at the scene, but I, you know, I didn't I did not do this. I loved her." Shawn, a former
00:16:35
Texas oil and gas man, once employed a then 20-year-old Matthew as a supervisor on his pipeline. I know Matthew. Uh I
00:16:44
spent a lot of time with him. He was a hard worker. You know, he loved his family. He valued his friendship uh with
00:16:52
people. Shawn was also once a deputy sheriff and says in his personal and professional opinion, Matthew is
00:17:00
innocent. When you're in law enforcement and and you sit across the table from somebody that has taken someone's life
00:17:07
as a cold-blooded killer, there's a certain feel that you get from that person. I never seen him reach that
00:17:13
point. Shawn believes Matthew when he says he has no memory of what happened. The cause of death for that girl is not
00:17:21
natural. And thinks this moment, did they tell you and they leave you? Was very real. I believe that was that was
00:17:30
genuine. that that was the first time that he knew that she was deceased. Which raises the obvious question,
00:17:38
if Matthew Edgar did not kill Libby, who did? Uh, that's kind of still up in the
00:17:42
air. In my opinion, there's plenty of other people that could be involved in this. Shawn won't name names, but
00:17:50
Matthew and his mother, Cindy, have insinuated that someone else killed Libby Montana. Listen to this recorded
00:17:58
jailhouse call. But I'm saying, Matthew, if it turns out that Montana did this, I
00:18:04
don't want to talk about it, please. I mean, it's not going to make you want to hurt her because she killed the woman
00:18:09
you loved, are you? I don't know. Sheriff's investigator JP Mcdana says Montana's unusual friendship with Libby
00:18:18
did get his attention. My husband left me for this woman, but she's my best friend. You know,
00:18:23
I I have to question that as an investigator. This is one of the last photos ever taken of Libby. She is with
00:18:31
Montana and they are at that party Matthew told investigators about at Bobby Ozan's place. I'm going to say
00:18:40
there's probably about 20 people there. Including Matthew and Montana's sons. Bobby told investigators Matthew spent
00:18:48
the night watching Libby and Montana party with everyone but him. He would try to come over there and talk to him
00:18:56
and they just really wouldn't say much to him. They just basically ignoring him. Investigators learned that Libby
00:19:02
had broken up with Matthew just weeks earlier and he had taken up with another young woman in town. I am trying to find
00:19:11
out your relationship with Matthew Edgar. We were having sex just I met him that
00:19:18
Monday and we saw each other every day. So you just blown him away. Yeah. But it
00:19:25
was clear to Bobby that Matthew wasn't over Libby. He was just hurt. And then now she don't want nothing to do with
00:19:32
him no more. She's going on with her life. Just like you don't exist anymore. Bobby says Matthew was stewing at the
00:19:39
party. He just wasn't himself his own age. Just drinking beer and drinking heavily. Yes, sir. Yeah. And the more he
00:19:46
drank, the angrier he got. Exactly. What do you think of Matthew Edgar's story? Chat now with the 48 Hours team
00:19:56
on Facebook and [Music] [Music] X. As the party at Bobby Ozan's was winding down, Matthew Edgar says he
00:20:14
called it a night. Oh, so you left Bobby's. We went to your house. We went home. I was at my house.
00:20:20
That's where Matthew's memory goes blank. But his ex-wife, Montana Bokeell, remembers much more. Today is October
00:20:29
the 31st. In this audio recording, Montana told investigators Matthew suddenly came back to the party and
00:20:37
learned that Libby had decided to stay overnight at Bobby's. You think he heard Livy say she going to stay the night?
00:20:43
Oh, I know he heard her cuz that's what made him so mad. During the course of the investigation and during my
00:20:50
interviews with family and friends and Matthew had intended to ask Miss Lewis to marry him. That's how significant he
00:20:57
felt about Miss Lewis to hear her back at the house say that I'm going to stay with Bobby was just meaning sleep with
00:21:06
Bobby. Correct. That was too much. It was just too much. According to Montana, Matthew was so angry he even took it out
00:21:14
on her. He tried to choke me and then that's when I went and got Bobby. So I went outside and he had kicked all the
00:21:22
doors in on a car and was punching on the window. At one point, Bobby had to pin Matthew against the car in order for
00:21:30
the girls to be able to leave. The whole time I'm holding him, he's screaming top
00:21:33
his lungs, "I'm going to kill y'all. I'm going to kill y'all." Montana says she and Libby left in separate cars in
00:21:40
search of safety. Montana says she headed toward the home where Matthew's mother and grandparents lived and that's
00:21:48
where Matthew caught up with her. He pulled in behind me. I went to get out and he started choking me again. Their
00:21:54
children were in the back seat of Matthew's van and I was honking the horn so somebody would come outside. In all
00:22:01
the racket, Montana says Matthew left and headed for his own home a short distance away on the same property. A
00:22:09
shak in Montana says she asked to stay the night with Matthew's mother and grandparents and then began texting with
00:22:18
Matthew. I have a message. What does he say? You took part in it and you are guilty as she is, wrote Matthew as he
00:22:27
angrily accused Montana of playing a part in Livy's decision to spend the night with Bobby Ozanne. Those texts
00:22:35
would become damning evidence in the case against Matthew Edgar. He said, "You knew what was going on." A
00:22:44
decision that appears to have enraged him. He said, "I will take your life, her life, and his life. Mark my words."
00:22:51
At 3:22 a.m., Matthew texts, "I'm leaving. Better get here and get your kids." Mcdana says evidence shows that a
00:23:01
drunk and angry Matthew then got behind the wheel of his truck where he kept his
00:23:06
rifle and went hunting for Libby. I think she pulled over to talk to him. And I'll tell you why. She was just
00:23:13
sitting there with her legs crossed. Indicates to me she was not afraid. It was not a fight orflight thing where she
00:23:20
was prepared to just bolt out the car. She was actually to some degree comfortable with who she was speaking
00:23:25
with. 12 minutes after texting, I'm leaving, Matthew texted, I'm home. I got Livy's keys and her phone. Montana
00:23:35
asked, "Where is she?" Matthew's response, "Dead." Montana told investigators she didn't call 911
00:23:44
because she didn't believe he was serious. Instead, Montana texted Matthew, "Can I come down there?" His
00:23:51
reply, "Yeah." But Montana claims that Matthew's mother wouldn't let her leave, so she just fell asleep. I never left. I
00:24:02
didn't even know anything had happened until I woke up at around 6:00 this morning.
00:24:08
But Matthew didn't go to bed. Mcdana says evidence shows that not long after sending that text that Libby was dead,
00:24:17
Matthew did something no one can explain. He went back to the crime scene. this time in his cousin Zach's
00:24:24
truck. It's that truck that was found parked behind Livy's car. Why would he go back then? Why would he return to the
00:24:32
scene of the crime? That would be a question you'd have to ask Matthew. I I can't explain that. Also hard to explain
00:24:38
Montana's failure to call 911. It made no sense to Liby's friend Bailey. She knew who he was and what
00:24:47
type of person he was and then she was receiving all those texts. I don't think that you can just take that with a grain
00:24:53
of salt after you receive those text messages. Yeah, it's time to to call police, right? Mcdana says he and his
00:25:00
team of investigators wondered if Montana had been to the crime scene that morning to try and help Matthew cover up
00:25:08
Livy's murder. I know you don't believe me, but I can't tell you something I don't know happened. 2 months after the
00:25:15
crime, Montana was given a polygraph exam. Are you covering for the person responsible for Liby's death? After
00:25:22
monitoring her physiological responses, Montana was told she failed the polygraph. There's no doubt that you
00:25:30
left something out. There's something you're not telling me. But after an indepth multi- agency investigation,
00:25:37
investigators concluded that Montana was never at the crime scene and had nothing
00:25:43
to do with Libbyy's shooting or any cover up. And so to all those who think somehow she's involved, you say not
00:25:52
true. Not true at all. All the evidence says Mcdana points to one person, Matthew Edgar. Is there a motive in your
00:26:01
mind? Jealousy. Jealousy. Plain and simple. In February 2021, the COVID pandemic shut down the courts and this
00:26:11
case. With no grand juries being convened, a judge was forced by law to release a still unindicted Matthew Edgar
00:26:20
on a reasonable bond, $50,000. For them to set it so low was insane to me. Months after Matthew's release, Darcy
00:26:34
was at her local convenience store when Matthew just strolled in. When he came in the door, I just went started
00:26:43
throwing whatever at him and went for him. And I just remember saying, "You killed my daughter. You killed my
00:26:49
daughter." And that's Matthew pressed charges against Darcy. And she was arrested. The charges would eventually
00:26:57
be dropped, but Darcy says she just wanted some answers. She loved you and she was good to you and your kids and to
00:27:04
your family. What made you think that this was the answer to anything that was going on? On March 16th, 2021, 4 and a
00:27:13
half months after his arrest, charged zombie homicide, a grand jury finally heard the evidence against Matthew Edgar
00:27:22
and indicted him for the murder of Libby Lewis. But Matthew, who was still out on
00:27:27
bail, wasn't done breaking the law and tormenting Livy's family. I just was like, "Are you are you serious?
00:27:47
As January 2022 and the trial of Matthew Edgar approached, Darcy Bass was confident that the evidence in the
00:27:55
murder of her daughter Libby would finally prove that Matthew had killed her. What in this case struck you as the
00:28:03
most powerful evidence against Matthew Agger? From him saying that he was going to kill them her till him being at the
00:28:12
scene to it being his gun. Then there were all those venomous texts between Matthew and Montana that Taylor and
00:28:20
Bailey say ended with a clear confession when he text and said she's dead. Cuz who would know that except the person
00:28:29
who did it? And remember that text that read, "I got Livy's keys and her phone."
00:28:35
Well, Livy's phone was found in the truck Matthew had driven to the crime scene. Her keys were found on the
00:28:41
driveway at his grandparents house and reluctantly handed over to investigators by Matthew's mother, Cindy Hogan. Is it
00:28:51
true in your opinion that she tried to keep Livy's keys from investigators? That was the indication. Cindy Hogan
00:28:58
also tried to help her son by suggesting that Libby had been killed by a drug cartel because Matthew owed them money
00:29:07
and that the cartel hadn't killed Levy and staged it to make it look like Matthew did it because they were out
00:29:14
$30,000. What do you think of that theory? Uh I think it's a far-fetched fairy tale. It was so far-fetched. It was just
00:29:24
a crazy story to try to distract people from the truth. On Monday, January 24th,
00:29:32
2022, the trial of Matthew Edgar began with jury selection. Matthew, who is still out on bond, walked in and out of
00:29:40
court every day like a free man. Due to the nature of the of the crime and the emotion throughout the county, we had
00:29:48
security arrangements in place for trial. We even had Matthew wearing a bulletproof vest. On the first day of
00:29:55
testimony, the state began presenting its case, which included DNA lab results that detected a tiny speck of Livy's
00:30:04
blood on the pants Matthew was wearing when he was found at the crime scene. How important is that piece of evidence?
00:30:12
It's critical. It puts him there at the time that that injury caused her death. But Matthew's courtappointed defense
00:30:19
attorney, Rob Hughes, argued that a tiny drop of blood doesn't prove a thing. How
00:30:25
else could that speck have gotten on his pant leg if not coming from blood spatter from the shooting? You can get
00:30:31
DNA transferred from just touching someone. Hugh says there's no telling how long that blood had been there. And
00:30:39
all that blood on Matthew's face that Mcdana swabbed and had tested, it wasn't Livy's or Matthews. And once they were
00:30:47
excluded, investigators didn't pursue other matches. Hugh says there were additional DNA tests that also raised
00:30:55
questions about who else may have been at the crime scene. There were other people's DNA on Matthew and Libby was
00:31:03
excluded as a contributor to those DNA samples. Hughes tried his best to argue that the DNA should be considered
00:31:11
reasonable doubt, but admits that his biggest obstacle in defending Matthew were those texts and Matthew's
00:31:18
insistence that he has no memory of sending them. In your entire career as a defense attorney, have you ever had a
00:31:25
client who was functioning during the course of a crime, texting, conversing with people, driving an automobile, who
00:31:35
then said they had no memory whatsoever of the events? I have not. And you understand why that would be hard for
00:31:42
people to believe? Yes. Hughes also asserted that the murder weapon had not been tested for fingerprints or DNA, but
00:31:51
conceded the rifle belonged to Matthew. After a second day of testimony, the prosecutor notified
00:31:59
Hughes that he would be resting his case the next morning, and it would then be Hughes's turn to call witnesses. Shawn
00:32:08
Dunn says that he had been Snapchatting with Matthew, who was feeling optimistic
00:32:13
about his chances. He was so confident that he was going to need a job and asked me would I find him a spot to go
00:32:21
to work. But the next morning, as Rob Hughes arrived at the courthouse, he got a panicked call from Matthew's mother,
00:32:29
who told him her son was now a fugitive. She just started frantically telling me
00:32:34
that Matthew was gone. Matthew had run and he had taken a gun with him and she was afraid he was going to kill himself.
00:32:41
Are you serious? Like he's he's gone. He shouldn't even been out on bond. Then he
00:32:45
had an ankle monitor on. What happened with that? Authorities say Matthew had simply waited for the battery on his
00:32:52
ankle monitor to die and then left home most likely on foot. We started getting assets from all over. Blufkin PD SWAT
00:33:01
DPS, Texas Rangers. We even had tracking dog from the from the prison unit. They
00:33:06
followed a trail through the woods roughly two miles. Meanwhile, Matthew's trial went on without him. That very
00:33:16
same day, defense attorney Rob Hughes began presenting his case. The jury was not told that Matthew had fled, but they
00:33:24
must have wondered. So, a case that's already very difficult for you has now become, I'll use the word impossible. It
00:33:32
it made it much it didn't help, that's for sure. No one was surprised when after deliberating for about an hour and
00:33:39
a half, the jury found Matthew Edgar guilty of murder. But he was still on the loose out there somewhere, an armed
00:33:48
threat to himself and the community. I mean, I think that it was like a scary time because it's him. He knows where
00:33:55
everybody lives at. That was a terrible crazy time for me knowing that he's out there supposedly loved my daughter but
00:34:03
murdered her and me the one that's actively trying to make sure that he goes to jail. What would he had done to
00:34:09
me? Darcy says it felt like no one was searching for Matthew. So she became a mother on a mission and hung this
00:34:17
homemade wanted poster all over town. But she wasn't alone. JP Mcdana had been joined by Jeff Coulter, a special deputy
00:34:26
with the Eastern District US Marshall Service and they were on the hunt for Matthew. Do you consider him right off
00:34:34
the bat to be a dangerous fugitive? Oh, absolutely. From what I was told from the murder at the crime scene, yes, no
00:34:41
doubt. See a timeline of the night of the murder at 48 hours.com. [Music] But her car was right here before the
00:34:59
sign. This is the very spot where 19-year-old Libby Lewis was murdered. Now a memorial lovingly tended to by her
00:35:09
mother, Darcy. I just want everyone to remember what happened here, what Libby had to go
00:35:16
through. It's also a place that Darcy is convinced Matthew Edgar visited after becoming a fugitive. I just felt it as a
00:35:25
mother. I was like, he's coming here. He's not far. Darcy says she also heard rumors that Matthew's mother had been
00:35:33
spotted buying her son's favorite cigarettes and liquor in large quantities. Where is she taking them to?
00:35:40
One week after Matthew ran from the law, Jeff Coulter, a special deputy with the
00:35:45
US Marshalss, was asked to take over the manhunt. When you first begin your investigation, do you start with his
00:35:52
family to see if they've heard anything? No. No. I don't like being lied to. I've
00:35:57
already heard their stories claiming she was killed by the cartel. So, no, I didn't even waste my time. Coulter says
00:36:03
he quietly spent nearly a year working with the sheriff's office and other law enforcement agencies around the country
00:36:11
to chase down every lead that came their way. We had put in a lot of hours, a lot
00:36:16
of weekends, a lot of late nights. Then a tip that Matthew might actually be hiding in plain sight just yards from
00:36:24
his grandparents' property in this house. It looked great. It sounded great, but we physically have to put
00:36:32
eyes on him before we make a move on his residence. The house, which belonged to
00:36:37
a family friend, was surrounded by woodlands. So, Coulter enlisted the aid of two wardens with Texas Parks and
00:36:44
Wildlife Department. The plan to get as close as possible under the cloak of darkness
00:36:52
using night vision to ID their man. We were going to enter into the woods, make our way up to the back of the property,
00:36:59
get as close as we could, and sit there and see if we could get a visual of him.
00:37:04
While Coulter led a team of three men into the woods, JP Mcdana and his deputies were on the opposite side of
00:37:11
the house near the driveway, but out of sight in their vehicles. My job was to sit right there at the front door of
00:37:19
that house. If Coulter and his men made a positive ID on Matthew, they would finally have him cornered. We went in
00:37:27
about 4:30 in the afternoon. We knew it was going to get dark about 5:30. We got
00:37:31
to probably about 100 yards of the house and we heard barking. Um, come to find out they had a pretty good size
00:37:36
rightwaller in the backyard. Then we're out there for an hour or so. We could hear voices. We could hear a female
00:37:40
voice, we could hear a male voice, but it's so thick we can't see. Then we catch a violent
00:37:47
thunderstorm. lightning and thunder and torrential rain. It was miserable, but it was a
00:37:52
blessing in disguise. And the noise covered our movement. They were 30 yards from the house when a second storm hit,
00:37:59
but there was no giving up. That's 11 months and 2 days. This needed to end tonight. Drenched and exhausted, Coulter
00:38:06
and his team could hear voices on the back porch of the house, but couldn't see faces until about 8:00 p.m. when a
00:38:14
man stepped off the porch. Walks around the side of the house and he stands there. One of Coulter's men immediately
00:38:21
recognized that man as Matthew Edgar. He goes, "He's here. I got eyes on him." We
00:38:27
got word that they had made a confirmation. Drove down, pulled in the driveway. Back to the back. Back back.
00:38:34
Watch the front. I got I got movement. They're in the house. Once we saw the lights, it was a 30 yard sprint. All
00:38:39
four of us. We break the corner and we started screaming. Law enforcement police. Sheriff's office. Anybody
00:38:44
outside? Come out with your hands up. He jumps up and he throws himself against the wall like, "Oh crap, you got me."
00:38:50
Yeah. It was over with. Did you guys make eye contact? Absolutely. He said, "Hey, JP." I said, "Hey, Matthew." And
00:38:57
then he asked me, "You hadn't proven my innocence yet?" And I said, "No, Matthew, I have not."
00:39:06
Coulter says that's not all Matthew had to say that night. He said, "Please don't shoot my mother." Mother, please
00:39:13
come out of the house. His mother is in the house. The mother's at the house. Was she crying? Was she upset? No. I
00:39:20
think she acted amazed that he was there. Like she didn't know what was going on.
00:39:25
Really? Yes. Surprised he was there. I'm going to jail for something I don't even
00:39:29
know nothing about. Was she arrested as well? Not at the time. She was not. Can somebody get my purse with my seizure
00:39:35
medicine? Cindy Hogan was eventually charged with hindering apprehension. We reached out to her attorney for comment,
00:39:44
but did not hear back. On January 3rd, 2023, Matthew Edgar was formally sentenced for the murder of Libby Lewis,
00:39:54
99 years in prison with the possibility of parole after serving 30 years. Does it give you I don't know what the
00:40:04
word is, not any peace, but in prison, he will likely suffer for decades. Can only hope, but he doesn't suffer like
00:40:16
like her brother. He doesn't suffer like her little sister. Darcy hopes to be there when Matthew
00:40:24
comes up for parole. And Taylor and Bailey say she won't be alone. And I don't care. However, he says that he
00:40:32
changes while he's in there. I don't think that that's something you can ever come back from because she's definitely
00:40:37
not coming back. Meanwhile, Darcy is trying to save up enough money to buy a headstone for Libbyy's grave. How do you
00:40:46
carry on and honor your daughter's memory? I just got to get up every morning and
00:40:51
just just remember the good things and I want to make her proud. I don't want her to be remembered as the
00:40:59
girl that got killed in the small town. I want her to be remembered for the way that she carried herself and the happy
00:41:06
person that she was to be around. [Music] CBS next Saturday. So, what is your emergency? I accidentally shot my wife.
00:41:30
a former deputy sheriff accused of killing his wife. Don't accidentally shoot more than once. It didn't make
00:41:35
sense. It didn't line up. Do you think it was accidental? I guess that's the million-dollar question. 48 hours is all
00:41:40
new CBS next Saturday, 10:9 central and streaming on Paramount Plus. [Music] Welcome back to Postmortem. I'm your
00:42:02
host, Ann Marie Green, and today we're discussing the case of Libby Lewis, who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend,
00:42:11
Matthew Edgar, following an argument at a party. But then during his murder trial, he fled when his ankle monitor
00:42:19
battery died. And he evaded authorities for nearly a year. So joining me now to discuss this is correspondent Peter
00:42:26
Vansen and producer Judy Rybeck. Thanks for joining us guys. Hi. Hey Marie. Good
00:42:31
to see you. Okay. And as per usual, remember everyone uh if you haven't listened to this 48 hours episode yet.
00:42:37
Head on over to your podcast feed. You're going to find the episode uh just below this one right there. Go over
00:42:43
there and listen and then come on back for this conversation. All right. This murder occurs in Hemp Hill, Texas. We've
00:42:50
done some stories in some small communities and having worked in small towns, what you find is that everyone
00:42:55
knows everyone. This is a really small community. Uh about a thousand people live there. What was it like visiting
00:43:02
such a small town? I don't think I've ever been in a town that small as you say. Like we've been in a lot of small
00:43:09
towns and uh you know that there's not a lot to do. They do a lot of riding around, drinking basically, right?
00:43:18
fishing, hunting, repeat. Yeah. Right. Right. And when friends heard that Libby was dead, they thought it was a car
00:43:25
accident because that's how most of their friends die. So, it turns out that before becoming uh Livy's boyfriend,
00:43:33
Matthew Edgar had not one, not two, but three high-speed chases in one day with law enforcement. Wow.
00:43:42
The last one ended up in in an accident which the deputy chasing him had a broken leg and he was arrested. When I
00:43:48
when we learned about this, we talked with Darcy, Livy's mom about it. And I said, you know, as a parent myself, I
00:43:53
said, "Well, did you warn your daughter, stay away from Matthew Edgar?" And she goes, "No, if I did that, I'd be judging
00:44:00
him." And I don't like to judge people. And besides, I've made some mistakes in my life. So, it's just kind of a
00:44:08
different way of thinking, right? Yeah. A lot of them have records. So, the thing about a small town though, clearly
00:44:14
they've investigated their fair share of high-speed cases, but probably not murders, right? So, were they prepared
00:44:21
for this? Was this challenging for them? Oh, so challenging. I just don't think they'd ever seen anything like this
00:44:26
before. So, they had to call in state troopers and um you know, reinforcement. There were a lot of cops at the at the
00:44:36
scene of the crime. We are taken at the very start of the hour to the death scene and you're hearing the shrieks of
00:44:43
Darcy the mom and where's my baby? Where is she? And it was so real and and uh devastating. Yeah. When when I watched
00:44:52
that video with Darcy, I could feel my hands clenching and I was like, just tell her what's going on. How does Darcy
00:44:59
feel about how it was handled? Oh, she's still so angry. I mean, rightfully, right? She had to learn through the
00:45:05
grapevine in town. They didn't call her right away. I think Matthew's family knew before Darcy did, which is Yeah,
00:45:13
because he was in the hospital, too. But, um, imagine being the last one to know, and you're the mother, right? Most
00:45:22
protocols with with law enforcement, there would be an officer who would approach her, come over here, come sit
00:45:27
in my uh squad car. uh we'll talk to you about the situation to to allow her out
00:45:33
there to just shout and scream and be ignored and those you know those cold stares back at her were were just
00:45:40
terrible and she was sensing of course that her daughter was gone and no one was telling her but it was it was
00:45:46
torture and you counted how many times she asked it was something like 23 times. Yeah. Where's my baby? Where is
00:45:53
she? Where is my what happened? and they just stared at her and that is not u protocol. That was a mistake and they
00:46:00
they admitted later that that was handled very poorly. There was one character though that both of us just
00:46:07
really fell for uh the Sabine County Sheriff's Investigator JP Mcdana and JP was just right out of central casting.
00:46:15
He had the perfect Texas sounding voice and his initial interviewing of Matthew Edgar uh on that stretcher that you'll
00:46:24
see if you haven't seen the hour yet. It's it's unlike anything I have had on 48 hours before. Sheriff's body cams
00:46:31
capturing this bloody suspect uh lying down and JP does a masterful job of connecting with him and getting him to
00:46:39
open up and the questioning went on and on and you're sitting there going, Matthew, you're digging yourself a hole
00:46:46
here. And he eventually talked his way into getting arrested by the end of it. But JP Mcdana, he was a really smart
00:46:54
rural guy, knew how to talk to the locals and and he he did a great job. Yeah. He locked him into his story that
00:47:00
day, you know, that he didn't remember what happened. Mhm. I want to talk to you guys about the DNA tests. Uh because
00:47:07
you know the case sort of feels straightforward but one thing that was surprising to me and I'm sort of
00:47:13
surprising to investigators is there's blood on Edgar's face and that blood does not actually match him or Libby. So
00:47:20
then you know whose blood is it? Any theories? This is one of the strangest aspects of this story for for Judy and
00:47:27
me on that deputy's body cam and you looking at Matthew Edgar's face. It is covered in blood. And to this day, they
00:47:37
still don't know whose blood it is. You know, there was a theory that it was Bobby Ozan, the this this man who they
00:47:43
were partying at that house, and they they had a little struggle outside by this automobile as uh Matthew Edgar was
00:47:51
trying to give chase to Libby. They suspect it was Bobby's, but they never bothered to test to see if it was
00:47:57
Bobb's. Right. I I actually was surprised that Bobby was willing to talk to you guys because I felt like they're
00:48:03
at his house partying. She's going to stay over there is what we're getting. And I just thought he would want to have
00:48:10
nothing to do with this case because everyone involved he's well acquainted with and it must have been tough. I
00:48:17
think he feels guilty about what happened. But our field producer, Iris, and I went to town early to to convince
00:48:25
JP Mcdana to do an interview, to meet with Bobby and convince him to do an interview. Um, it wasn't easy. It's
00:48:32
never really easy, but uh yeah, and it was a great get by Judy cuz uh he had the front row seat, as we like to say,
00:48:40
to all of this and he knew the intricacies of these relationships. And he's also a great storyteller. And as a
00:48:46
quick aside, by the way, um he has a he has a hobby on the side. He catches giant catfish with his bare hands and he
00:48:53
and he showed us video seen that before. It is he goes underwater. He said he can
00:48:58
hold his breath up to 2 minutes and then all of a sudden he comes out and he's put his arm all the way down the throat
00:49:04
of a giant catfish that may weigh 25 30 lb and pulls it out of the water. It's the darnest thing you've ever seen.
00:49:12
That's quite a skill. [Music] Welcome back. When Livy's family and friends find out that she has been
00:49:28
killed, did they think of anyone else who could possibly be be responsible for this?
00:49:34
They were focused. Yeah. Yeah. They know who did it. It was pretty clear. Yeah. We know that Matthew Edgar was abusive
00:49:39
to Libby, not just emotionally, but there was that picture that her cousin showed us of her bloody nose and, you
00:49:46
know, there was a history of violence. The prosecution said there was a mountain of evidence that pointed at
00:49:52
Matthew Edgar. He's found at the crime scene, you know, unharmed. He's not injured in any way. Um, you know, there
00:50:01
was that text to Montana. It's his ex-wife. Yeah. And saying Libby was dead. There were multiple texts and uh
00:50:09
and they had that huge fight that night. This relationship that these people had
00:50:13
and the fact that he had beaten her in the past, it was the drink and argue and fight, make up, rinse, repeat, do it
00:50:20
again. But no one ever thought this would lead to murder. So, is this why at that party Montana doesn't call the
00:50:27
police? Bobby doesn't call the police when, you know, they can see that Edgar is drunk, that things are ratcheting up,
00:50:35
no one even thinks like he shouldn't get behind the wheel. You know, Bobby told us, "We just don't call the cops on each
00:50:42
other because, as Peter has said, it's, you know, it this is a pattern." And so,
00:50:47
he just thought they would all wake up the next day and start over again. Yeah. They they take care of their own. They
00:50:53
take care of their own circumstances. We don't need a deputy here, right? You and
00:50:57
I will take care of it. It may end up in a fist fight. It may end up in some slapping around, some screing, screaming
00:51:03
and shouting, but eventually they'll sort it out and tomorrow's another day. So, early on in this investigation,
00:51:10
investigators believe that Montana helped Edgar maybe cover up the crime scene. They didn't find any evidence
00:51:16
that she participated at all, though. But what made investigators initially suspect her? It's kind of a crazy story.
00:51:23
So, the pants that he was wearing when they found him had her name written inside like on the label. You know how
00:51:30
when you label kids clothes when they go to camp? So, it had her name, not his. And what they thought was that she had
00:51:37
gone down there and brought him clean clothing, right? Um but then they later found out that she was the one who took
00:51:44
all the clothing to the the cleaners to the laundromat. And so she had written her name in everything.
00:51:52
Yeah. When they were married, she put her name on his clothes and hers. The other thing though, the connection that
00:51:57
they had was that remember Edgar had texted Montana that Libby was dead. Did Montana take that text seriously or what
00:52:05
did she think of that text? She wouldn't talk to us. She's left town and wants nothing to do with any of this. Montana
00:52:12
was thoroughly investigated, right? Yes. There was a multi- agency investigation
00:52:17
into this murder and all of the investigators concluded that Montana had nothing to do with the death of Libby
00:52:26
Lewis. So Edgar is arrested in the hospital just hours after Livy's murder. I'm wondering did you guys try to get an
00:52:34
interview with him? Oh yeah, we we always we always try to get interviews with everybody. We want to talk to
00:52:40
everybody. Yes. I spoke to his new wife. His new wife? Yes. He is married. Got married while he was in prison, but he
00:52:48
knew her before he went to prison. Is she from the same town? Yeah. Yeah. I got her number. I spoke to her. She
00:52:55
said, "Yeah, he wants to talk to you guys." So, we sent him a letter and um the day that they gave him the letter,
00:53:01
he said no. He didn't want to do it. And then the next day, he changed his mind.
00:53:06
But then there's like this weird procedure where they had to wait another 30 days or 60 days to ask him a second
00:53:13
time. They had to give him time to think about it. Um but in the interim, the family just circled the wagons around
00:53:19
him and said, "No, he's not talking to you. We're not talking to you. None of us are talking to you." So in February
00:53:25
of 2021, the co pandemic uh shuts down the courts. That's been happening with a lot of the cases that we've been
00:53:32
covering lately. In this case, Edgar's released on a $50,000 bond. It feels light for a murder suspect. Yeah. So,
00:53:40
Texas law was that they could only hold him for so long and if he was still unindicted, they had to let him go.
00:53:48
Well, he was still unindicted and and the law states that it has to be a reasonable bond. So, they
00:53:55
set the bond at $50,000 and, you know, the family, I think, went to a bail bondsman and and got him out, right? And
00:54:02
after he was released on bail, he was arrested again for assaulting Montana. And this time, bail was set at
00:54:10
$325,000. And the family, they were able to to pay that bond. Now, it's usually 10% down, but that's $32,000 they'd have
00:54:17
to come up with, right, to to get him out. Wait, he's out on bond accused of of killing his ex-girlfriend, and he
00:54:24
assaults his ex-wife. No, no, they they they dipped back into the case, right? So that same night he had assaulted
00:54:31
Montana. So they wanted to try and get him back behind bars. So they they charged him with assaulting Montana.
00:54:38
That made Livy's mother Darcy crazy, too. Like you know, murder gets a $50,000 bond and assault gets a $325,000
00:54:46
bond, but I think they were trying to make up for the $50,000 mistake. It didn't make much of a difference cuz he
00:54:51
still managed to post anyways. Um, so then the big twist in this story comes when the battery on Edgar's uh ankle
00:55:01
monitor, it dies and he goes on the run in the middle of the trial. Uh, the jury
00:55:06
was not told this though, that he fled. I mean, you would think that would be a factor that the jury should be able to
00:55:12
consider. I mean, if you're not guilty, why are you running? One one could argue. No, I think it's prejuditial and
00:55:18
you don't really know why he's run and it's not sort of not fair, I guess. But in the state of Texas, once a trial
00:55:24
starts, it doesn't stop. Yep. So, he's not there, though. He He's not there. His family's not there. The The jury had
00:55:32
to know something strange was happening, right? This is the second time this season I've had that happen on a story
00:55:38
where the defendant just didn't show up. And yeah, they're looking around and obviously, where'd he go? And imagine
00:55:45
being the defense attorney in this case, too, where you're trying to come up with
00:55:49
something that can spare him. and and he flees its its curtains after that to say
00:55:55
the least. They ultimately find him, but it it takes like a year cuz he's out. Oh, yeah. He's out on the run. He's
00:56:03
actually found guilty while he's on the run and now investigators have to figure
00:56:08
out how to find him, which I this this was so fascinating. He's ultimately found hiding in plain sight, right? He's
00:56:15
right somebody somebody tipped them off that they must have seen him or heard something cuz again, you know, small
00:56:20
town. and it's going to happen sooner or later, but uh he was right in their backyard. And I did not realize this
00:56:26
that most people who run stay fairly close to home unless they're going over the border or they don't have, you know,
00:56:34
family to support them. But if they have a support system, they're not going anywhere. So Edgar's mother, Cindy
00:56:41
Hogan, was actually at the house. We see it in the hour. And eventually charged with hindering apprehension. What's the
00:56:47
current status of her case? The case just keeps going on and on and on. It's it's, you know, one hearing after
00:56:53
another. Iris and I went to one of the hearings to try and convince her to talk to us. And uh she emphatically said no.
00:57:00
Her lawyer literally like put himself between us and her. But yeah, she's either going to have to make a deal or
00:57:06
it's going to go to trial. But this could go on for some time. I think January 3rd of 2023, Edgar is formerly
00:57:13
sentenced to 99 years in prison with the possibility of parole after serving 30 years. What is the likelihood that he
00:57:21
could actually get out in 30 years? So, in order to get out at that point, he's going to have to confess to
00:57:29
the murder. I mean, you go before a parole board, they're not letting you out until you show remorse and confess
00:57:34
to the, you know, he's got 30 years to think about it. And at that point, he might just, you know, he might just do
00:57:40
it to get out. You just don't know, right? Um, and remember, Matthew Edgar's defense and his story was so outrageous
00:57:49
and offensive to the family that he was so drunk that he doesn't remember this killing despite the fact that while he
00:57:56
was inebriated, he was sending text messages and talking to people and driving an automobile and stuff. It was
00:58:02
a ridiculous story. We talked about Libby a little bit earlier and the sense that I got from her is that she would
00:58:07
have been going places. She she would have eventually left that town. It felt like anyways. Yeah. And she was an
00:58:13
outlier in that she was academically accomplished. She had goals in life. She was going to university and she she had
00:58:22
her escape. It was right there in front of her. Uh and and yet that that culture
00:58:27
pulled her back in. Such a sliding door moment, right? Mhm. Absolutely. Um, it's clear that Darcy loved her
00:58:36
daughter, obviously. Uh, Peter, you went with her to a memorial that she had put
00:58:41
up for her daughter. What was that like? It was really, uh, heartbreaking. We got
00:58:45
to know Darcy, who admits in her own life, she's made a lot of mistakes, but Libby for her was her
00:58:52
accomplishment. Giving birth, raising that that young girl who became successful. She was her dream child and
00:59:01
it was everything in her life that gave her meaning is that I raised this extraordinary person with all the
00:59:06
mistakes that I made along the way. Look what I've produced. And to have that taken away when you're at that little
00:59:12
memorial for for Darcy, it means just everything. It's just precious. And she tends to it and she feels the presence
00:59:21
of her daughter there. And it's just it's just awful at the end of the day. uh murder reverberates uh and destroys
00:59:29
so many other people's lives and poor Darcy I I think I hope she can get back on the rails, but this is this is such a
00:59:37
blow cuz her daughter was everything. Yeah. Um well, it was a great hour as usual. Um thank you. Uh Peter Judy,
00:59:45
thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, Anorie. And of course, want to remind you guys
00:59:51
if you like the series Postmortem, please rate and review 48 hours on Apple Podcasts and follow 48 hours wherever
00:59:58
you get your podcast. And you can also listen at free on the Amazon Music Wree Plus in the Wy app or the 48 hours plus
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