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[Music] 911 what is your emergency I wome with my boyfriend he he was outside this
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morning he's cold he's cold I was scared I was confused I I was on the phone with 911 the kitchen's a
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bloody mess and he's not breathing why is the kitchen a bloody mess I don't know what's your name Melissa
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Turner I couldn't remember a lot when I realized that he wasn't responding I panicked when did you realize that
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Matthew was dead I think a part of me already knew October 18th 2019 we got the call
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that we had to respond here Matthew truster was found in the patio pool area of this residence and
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what kind of shape was Melissa at that time I remember seeing her pretty well covered in
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blood so on that night what happens Matt I gotten upset uh he had he had gotten his knife out I
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remember he would act more like he was possessed he would say things to me like Matt's not here anymore I'm the
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demon there were times where he try and use it on himself I was the prosecutor who went to
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the crime scene that day I thought it was bizarre there was the insinuation that he had done this to
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himself and he had estabish in the back he couldn't have done that to himself right he flow back I tried giving him
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CPR I tried I just thought that there was a lot of acting happening where she's dialing 911 and make herself cry I
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don't know what happened was exceptional acting fantastic actress she wanted to be in
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movies a cosplay model is basically where you dress up as like uh your favorite characters um I would do
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alvara Misty from Pokemon I really loved the makeup and the props and the costuming I am tothor Rose I'm a cam
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model I'm an artist I love Fitness her content was sexual based she had websites she had an only fans page we
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were very shocked to find this kind of secretive life that we didn't know about who do you believe killed Matthew
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truster Melissa Turner I didn't do what they're saying I did if I'm going to prison then I'm going down
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viting I'm going down telling my side of the story [Music] [Music] that's County 5 just of the
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emergency tell me what's wrong he is non responsive I couldn't stop crying Melissa Turner can vividly describe the
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moment as Medics tried to revive her fiance Matthew Trussler I watched the EMTs unfold the sheet and um lay the
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white sheet over him two years later Melissa still struggles to talk about the day Matthew died and
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it was it was when that happened that I just I couldn't hold in the tears and everything it was around 8:30 a.m. when
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Melissa says she found Matthew unresponsive on the back patio of the house they shared in a suburb of Tampa
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Florida I tried to see if he was breathing and I tried to to start CPR just a couple hours later still
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covered in blood Melissa agreed to talk to investigators at the Hillsboro County
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Sheriff's Office she says she wanted to help them figure out what had happened to
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Matthew I was just saying yes and complying with whatever was kind of said or told to
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me the world around me didn't really feel real in those moments a lot less glamor of the backing old TV told the
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detectives the couple's day had started off just like any other they took care of their pets did house chores as seen
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in these previously posted Facebook videos get up we got to clean that spot first spot and went grocery shopping she
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admitted they were also drinking alcohol throughout the day leading into the evening that's what we did we just we
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were there at the house ourselves we had drinks he always liked drinking he was a
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drinker according to Melissa around 11:00 p.m. she got tired and told Matthew she wanted to go to sleep he was
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still up I slept on that that big chair that's in my little office area [Music] downstairs what she saw when she woke up
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the next morning Melissa told investigators didn't make sense I saw the the kitchen was
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I didn't see him outside at first I went upstairs and I checked the bedroom and then I came back down
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again she says that's when she discovered Matthew outside on the patio and began
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CPR CPR help they're hard to see but Melissa is wearing latex gloves given to her by an officer at the scene he had
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you put those on I was getting things bloody cuz I was C in his blood do you want to keep wearing
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those gloves or do you want to take them off I'll leave them on for now do you have any injuries on your
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person any scratches or Cuts or anything that I notice the detectives eventually
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told Melissa she would need to take the gloves off I have a little and that's from what I think it's
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from grabbing the glass or cuz I know there was the broken glass this morning so they could take
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photographs of her more there to open it up sorry oh my gosh I didn't like pretty
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good I didn't even noticed oh wow I had no idea that was there as detectives work to get to the
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bottom of what happened Matthew's family was learning Matthew had died his brother Shawn got the call from
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their mother I got a call that he died in an accident that's what they told me Sean called his fiance Jennifer
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immediately he's sobbing so hard and just screaming at the top of his lungs he's gone my brother Maddie
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Maddie's gone he's dead I'm getting chills just talking about [Music] this Sean and Matthew Trussler were
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originally from Massachusetts in 2015 Matthew followed in his brother's footsteps and moved to Florida to work
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with him in the construction business Shawn who lost one of his eyes due to a work accident shortly after his
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brother's death says the two made a good team I have worked Maddie very hard he just needs to be led correctly Matthew
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or Maddie as Sean calls him struggled with substance abuse and was looking at the move to Florida as a chance to start
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over he was a really good kid he worked so hard he had the biggest heart he loved everybody and
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everything two years after his move Melissa then 24 met Matthew 23 on an online dating app we met on Tinder and I
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just liked how different Matt treated me he made me feel more important he drew me in in 2019 the couple took a big step
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and bought a house together we were excited about the house we were picking out you know paint colors for walls and
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Furniture but Melissa says a few months into their new lives their relationship became strained Matt's drinking was
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getting worse it was just becoming really excessive at the the Sheriff's Office Melissa had been adamant that there were
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no arguments between the couple that night we were having a great time was there anything physical violent he was
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never violent he was always amazing with me but Melissa didn't know that the detectives had been tipped off by the
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responding officer that Melissa had told him there had been an argument at the house the night before what were you and
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Matthew arguing about last night I don't really remember I mean we might have gone an argument
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but it didn't seem like anything more like screaming at each other that I know of you told us that guys were there
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there only two of you the two of you were drinking my problem is is I got Matthew on the back porch
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with stab wounds stab wounds meanwhile another Detective Ryan legassi was knocking on doors and
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canvasing neighborhood for Clues as I walked over here you've got the camera located directly above the residence
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across the street [Music] here and what was captured by this camera police say would prove Melissa knew more than
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she was letting on get get up [Music] [Music] an eyewitness can be crucial to solving
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a crime and just hours into the investigation of Matthew tressler's death detectives discovered digital
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observers there was an ADT camera inside the couple's home but at first glance it
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didn't appear to show any unusual activity most of our information came from that camera that's posted up above
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the garage it was this nest camera on a neighbor's garage that would prove invaluable an unblinking eye trained on
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the side of Melissa and Matthew's home that recorded S and sounds so I started looking at the
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footage shei a detective for the sheriff's office at the time saw only darkness and heard the near Silence of
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Suburbia until around 4: a.m. I started to hear racketing um you know things that were sounded like they were
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crashing and um so then I you know I kind of zoomed in my senses a little bit and then from there I started hearing
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voices and then I hear what sounds like screaming um yelling legassi says those voices were coming
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from Matthew and Melissa's house how would you describe the tone of the voices that you heard so the little bit
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of male voice was tough to distinguish um but the female voice was very um very loud um sounded very angry what could
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you hear what kind of phrases so I heard um get up get up I heard so and then there was an
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explicit die you heard so die and then I heard um you know it sounded like a female voice was crying saying
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what what did I do legassi immediately reached out to his colleagues who were interviewing
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Melissa you said that last night you never woke up at all no I remember laying down I remember waking up in the
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same spot investigators now believe they had evidence that Melissa wasn't telling
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all she knew tell me about what happened around 4:00 this morning 4:00 what happened at 4:00 I don't know
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that's what I'm asking you I don't know either why was there any arguing at 4:00
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not that I know of I believe I was asleep I have no memory of any argument at 4 in the morning but after detectives
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confronted her with the evidence Melissa Stewart story changed I have some video
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surveillance actually yelling and screaming between a male and a female coming from your house what we need from
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you that would probably make a lot more sense is to tell us what that argument was about it I would say he woke me up
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and we gotten an argument over that because he was still up at 400 in the morning drinking okay so just so I'm
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clear you do have a memory of what happened right at 4:00 yes why were you yelling at him
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[ __ ] get up [ __ ] get up actually a lot of the times whenever he is drinking and gets that drunk into
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the hours of the morning he will just fall over you also said a couple of other things like stay
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down so [ __ ] die what are you talking about that was me being pissed off at everybodyy fell over you got a slice on
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your hand a slice that's what that is how did that happen the investigators again
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focused on that cut on Melissa's hand it's not from glass I can tell you that once again her story
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changed he does get his knives out sometimes he wasn't him anymore thinking back on
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it this is from me grabbing a knife out of his hand and things kind escalated from there Melissa later told us she
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wasn't trying to hide the injury on her hand in fact she had me mentioned it earlier to the 911 operator I have a cut
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on my hand I barely remembered even after mentioning it on the 911 call that my hand was sliced open 911 a
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few hours after Melissa placed that 911 call she was arrested in charge with second deegree murder with a
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weapon Shawn and Jennifer learned Melissa was in custody for Matthew's murder from his mom who called Melissa
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by her middle name Rose she said Rose killed him I remember we stood in my kitchen and he just starts bing up until
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then sea and Jennifer say the couple didn't appear to have any problems but Sean says that Melissa did put a wedge
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between him and Matthew she was totally isolated him and her from the rest of the world the truth is like how
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controlling and manipulating Rose was Sean says he hadn't seen Matthew during the last 6 months of his
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life the brothers had had a falling out after Matthew stopped working with Shawn
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at his construction business she took Maddie long before she took him forever Shawn and Jennifer say Melissa had two
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sides as Matthew's live-in partner and as a cosplay model who dressed up in costume portraying famous fictional
00:17:24
characters what is that then that is actually from Scooby-Doo she made a living by producing and acting in her
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own adult videos but it's from a movie clip where she actually is performing um sexual acts and it wasn't until after
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his death that they learned Melissa had cast Matthew as her partner in her videos and I really feel like uh the
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pressure and the stress and the fact that it was more and more and more just paid its toll on him you think that
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maybe he just didn't want to do those films anymore absolutely I think he was done with
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[Music] her after Shawn and his fiance Jennifer found out that Melissa had been arrested
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for Matthew's murder they began an investigation of their own we came across things were pretty
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disturbing Sean and Jennifer believed Matthew was becoming disenchanted with his role in those videos Melissa
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produced I think at first it was okay because he was seeing some fruits from his labor money um but I think it got a
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little much they now wonder if Melissa had been looking for a partner for her videos
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when she spotted Matthew on that dating app people write little bios about themselves she went out and found
00:19:12
someone with all the right stuff the looks the body and everything that goes with it she doesn't do things without a
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bunch of research Cameron wga a former boyfriend of Melissa met her before she began her career in the world of adult
00:19:27
entertainment she was very artistic so she was able to edit her own videos edit her own pictures very business-driven
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the two met in 2012 when they were studying makeup effects at Douglas Education Center near Pittsburgh back
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then Melissa was running a popular fitness blog after losing 100b later documenting her
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transformation on social media it kept her accountable she had this audience that was incredibly invested in what she
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was doing and watching her evolve as a person in 2013 Cameron and Melissa moved to
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Florida to pursue careers in special effects there Melissa confessed to Cameron that she had started a second
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blog with racer content This was meant to be temporary this was supplemental but Cameron says
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Melissa soon began earning a decent living doing what is called camw work where she performed in various stage of
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dress for her internet followers who paid a fee she was so proud of where she got herself I used to be this incredibly
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insecure girl now they're paying me to look at me he says he began to see a change in
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Melissa's personality as her business grew but it came maniacal to a point where it was complete Obsession and and
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it was money money money money money and the more and more success that she found
00:21:03
the more and more unstable she became she would scream at times that it would pierce your ear there were times where
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she was just unpredictable absolutely unpredictable Sean and Jennifer now wonder if
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Melissa's volatility may have escalated an argument with Matthew on the night he
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died did he want out of the adult entertainment business I think maybe that night he was like yo I'm done with
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this I'm washing my hands she didn't like whatever he said to her and it made her blow her top but that's not how it
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happened says Melissa after he was upset with me for wanting to go to bed but you
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know I stayed downstairs his demeanor would start to get darker and darker from there Matt he had his knife out it
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was the black uh tactical switchblade there were times where he would uh get really upset
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and try and use it on himself and so it was a common thing for me to try and take a knife away from him on this night
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he didn't want to let go of the knife Melissa says Matthew was drunk and despondent they struggled over the knife
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she says but after she managed to take it away she says Matthew grabbed her by the neck and squeezed a detail she
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failed to tell detectives during her interrogation I thought this was it I thought he was going to kill me and
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then I stabbed him lightly in the back just to get him off of me she says after she stabbed him once in the back Matthew
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pushed her into the kitchen counter and she hit her head he came at me and that's how I fell back and hit my head
00:22:52
so I had a pretty severe head injury but that claim would later be challenged at
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her trial I remembered a few blurry steps towards my office but that was it I just remember passing
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out uh blacking out there she's the real victim she's the one that was suffering
00:23:15
the abuse John Trina is Melissa's attorney he describes a couple's relationship as toxic particularly since
00:23:24
she said it was escalating his drinking was escalating his behavior is were escalating and it just unfortunately
00:23:31
escalated into this very odd incident I don't think it is a murder case I think it is a case of
00:23:40
self-defense but Melissa's version of events will be picked apart by prosecutors Katherine fand and chimu
00:23:47
faet at her trial there's just nothing to support her statement she never mentions anything about anyone
00:23:53
strangling her or anything until days before trial you really have to take that into
00:24:04
consideration besides the audio from the nestcam the state plans to present video
00:24:10
from inside the couple's home remember that ADT security footage recovered by investigators prosecutors believed it
00:24:19
didn't show any suspicious activity the night of Matthew's death but just before
00:24:25
the trial they discovered they misread the time and date I'll be honest I misunderstood the timing it's not
00:24:33
recorded in Eastern Standard Time It's recorded in Universal time and what the video did capture say
00:24:40
prosecutors we're going to show you some ADT videos would undermine Melissa's defense he's calmly walking and you can
00:24:50
see she's hunched over she's yelling she is angry and upset what do you make of Melissa Turner's
00:25:01
account chat now on Facebook and [Music] X on Valentine's Day 2022 2 years after Matthew truster was
00:25:19
found dead on his patio his fiance Melissa Turner went on trial for murder all right Melissa had been out on bail
00:25:28
since her arrest in 2019 but if she's convicted she knows she could spend the rest of her life
00:25:35
Behind Bars it'll be a world of weight off my shoulders for this trial to just be
00:25:43
over the jury will hear nothing about her videos her cosplay modeling and acting out fantasies online the judge
00:25:52
ruled it wasn't relevant to the case prosecutor chimu faet sees it differently I did think that the jury
00:25:59
should have known that she was an actress and she was able to make herself into this victim type person and then
00:26:07
Cry On Demand Melissa's Attorney John travina told the jury that she didn't mean to kill Matthew that she stabbed
00:26:15
him in self-defense during that struggle over the knife who killed Matthew Trussler Matthew Trussler killed Matthew
00:26:22
Trussler he did he did it to himself because of his actions and his behaviors is drinking his emotional abuse you're
00:26:31
saying that Melissa had the right to kill him because he was drunk no Melissa had the right to kill him to defend
00:26:36
herself from being strangled but prosecutor faucet says Matthew had no record or history of violence against
00:26:43
anyone why do you believe that Melissa killed Matthew TR I think she was intoxicated and I do think that she went
00:26:51
far beyond anything she thought she would do maybe she was just so frustrated with his drinking that she
00:26:57
Harms him so badly that he ends up dying at trial Melissa decided to take a risk
00:27:04
and testify she described Matthew as an alcoholic who had exhibited abusive there were times where he would push me
00:27:14
and punch the walls beside my head and unsettling behaviors in the past I had seen him cut himself burn himself stab
00:27:24
himself he would stare off at some corners and he would tell me that there's a demon standing right there
00:27:31
there are times where he would talk in a different voice did that frighten you goodness I was terrified and this was
00:27:39
happening on that night yeah and he just had this little smile on his face and he said what's the
00:27:45
matter little girl are you scared cuz Matt's not here anymore authorities never checked
00:27:52
Melissa's blood alcohol level but Matthews was nearly five times the legal limit in Florida that level of blood
00:28:00
alcohol not only is lethal it can cause hallucinations the demon that we've heard about but the medical examiner
00:28:07
didn't say that he died of alcohol intoxication the cause of death is that he was stabbed and he bled to death
00:28:14
according to the medical examiner Matthew had several small cuts and bruises and a possible defensive wound
00:28:21
on his forearm the Fatal injury was not the Saab wound to his back but from a deep incision on on his right arm which
00:28:29
punctured a vein you stabbed him in the back correct correct okay the only thing
00:28:35
that I did was the back how did he get cut on his right arm I I couldn't tell you that I hav no clue he could have
00:28:46
fallen into something he could have done it himself and I stabbed him once to get
00:28:51
him off of me from strangling me why didn't you tell the police that he had been trying to strangle you
00:28:58
because I couldn't remember at the time I complained multiple times about a headache prosecutor faet questioned
00:29:08
Melissa about her memories that returned before the trial and so today in 2022 you now claim you had some kind of
00:29:19
head injury correct um yes but a crime scene Tech testified there was no evidence of a head injury and now in
00:29:30
2022 you speak of some kind of blackout correct yes correct okay the jury won't have to rely just on Melissa's memories
00:29:39
as they weigh the evidence there's also that video from inside the couple's home
00:29:46
prosecutors say it proves Melissa was the aggressor that night at 338 a.m. Melissa is seen running towards her
00:29:55
office at 3:42 2 a.m. Matthew walks past the camera Melissa follows him he's walking calmly unarmed in the ADT videos
00:30:07
and she's following him hunched over angry at 4:01 a.m. the video shows Melissa running from the direction of
00:30:14
the kitchen she appears distressed this is also around the time when the camera across the street picks up audio of
00:30:23
screaming and yelling then in the next video clip at 4:08 a.m. she's standing at a front door
00:30:31
and she's seeming like she's talking to open air and you can see on her hand you
00:30:36
can see the hint of red she already has the cut prosecutors say the cut on her hand occurred when Melissa stabbed
00:30:43
Matthew they believe he was still alive at that point prosecutors say she could have left then for help or called 911
00:30:52
that's not what she did she walks back to where he is she is not in reasonable fear of of him that's what's clear but
00:31:02
Melissa's Attorney John travina rejects the state's timeline and disputes what prosecutors say is seen on that video I
00:31:10
never saw any cut on her hand and I don't think it shows that the fighting continues say prosecutors because around
00:31:19
4:30 a.m. they say the couple moved close to an open window and that nest camera across the street recorded a
00:31:27
woman's angry voice you said 4:33 a.m. so effing die right no I have no recollection of that
00:31:43
I explained my side and why I did what I did you're crying right now is that is that what's happening are you crying
00:31:50
right now do you know what tears look like are you crying because you can just cry on Q I'm crying because
00:32:00
because my life is on the line right now travina says it's impossible to clearly understand what Melissa is
00:32:08
saying on the nest recording and a former FBI audio forensic expert Bruce kig testified for the defense how he
00:32:18
believes sections of the nest audio had been what he called volume enhanced so it could be that maybe one
00:32:28
voice on the recording was not Amplified and that another voice on the recording
00:32:34
was greatly Amplified that's true I find it highly suspicious that Miss Turner's
00:32:41
voice is screeching loud but when it came to Matthew Trussler you could barely hear mumbling prosecutors deny
00:32:49
the audio was manipulated based on the outside camera prosecutor fan says the confrontation
00:32:57
ended at 511 a.m. when Matthew somehow got out to the pool area through this window so the window was actually open
00:33:06
but when he decided to flee from her he pushed out the screen and went out the window prosecutors say by the time
00:33:12
Matthew collapsed by the pool Melissa would have seen how injured he was he has already bled all that blood in the
00:33:21
kitchen and then gone out she knows that he needs help and she's awake and she doesn't help him but Melissa
00:33:31
says that's when she returned to her office and blacked out the argument ends sometime around
00:33:39
5:00 yes but you don't call 911 911 until 8:45 correct because I was unconscious one of the last ADT Clips
00:33:53
shows Melissa at 8:35 a.m. walking from the dire of her office in the police report her hair is described as quote
00:34:04
Messy as if she just woke up that was the most demonstrative of her not knowing he's dead because you wouldn't
00:34:11
go look for him if you killed him is it possible that she did pass out there she's been drinking whatever and had no
00:34:21
idea that he was dying at that time well she knew he was dying because she saw him bleeding out as the jury began their
00:34:29
deliberations one of the jurors Donald Goodwin was feeling the weight of his decision how does the first vote go two
00:34:39
for guilty in the second degree and where were you unknown do you have a home security
00:34:48
camera and has it ever recorded something unusual take a look at the murder investigation at 48 hours.com
00:34:58
[Music] [Music] what do you hope the jury comes back with what everyone hopes for not
00:35:15
guilty if you have a reasonable doubt about February 18th 2022 Melissa Turner's murder trial
00:35:23
wrapped up after 5 days of testimony before judge Samantha Ward your duty is to determine if the defendant has been
00:35:30
proven guilty or not in accord with the law Melissa is hoping the jury will believe her story about seeing Matthew
00:35:37
alive before blacking out he was still up and and moving around she says she had no idea of how badly he had been
00:35:48
injured so the last I remembered of him he was still up isn't it possible that there may not have been really intent to
00:35:56
kill anybody it's this drunken fight and somebody ends up bleeding to death that's a
00:36:02
homicide and prosecutor chimu fet says this case is really about domestic violence he was cut and stabbed and left
00:36:14
to die I think that's the very definition especially considering that this was by
00:36:20
his fiance in Florida second degree murder cases are heard by six jurors in this
00:36:31
case two women four men one of them Donald Goodwin come on up Turner and you see a young lady and you're already like
00:36:41
your stomach drops they like Lord just let me do the right thing but behind the looks of a young lady the truth was
00:36:51
coming out quickly Melissa Turner when she went to the stand I think it hurt her big time her tears
00:37:00
were so fake and you can tell I'm crying because I still remember all those places all those plans she was super
00:37:09
angry and super sad her emotions were everywhere you were there I'm like that tells me that's who she is Goodwin a
00:37:16
part-time family pastor says those security camera videos were crucial because of what he says was a lack of
00:37:24
other evidence I looked at the videos over and over at the at videos that's inside the
00:37:30
house I seen red on her hands but I couldn't use it as evidence because the camera wasn't crystal clear at that
00:37:37
point did do you think he had already been stabbed yes and I think she snapped you don't believe he was strangling her
00:37:44
at the time no I felt like she had enough and attacked him and there was one clip of the audio recording that
00:37:51
convinced Goodwin that Melissa knew Matthew was hurt then she said what did I do and I was
00:38:02
like that right there tells me you know exactly what's going on now she knew he was going to
00:38:08
die she knew it and yet she called nobody and as for Melissa's claims about hitting her head and blacking out you
00:38:18
don't believe that she might have passed out no not at all there was no evidence
00:38:23
of head injury publish the verdict and pull the jurors please the jury deliberated for 7 hours we the
00:38:32
jury find us follows as to the charge the defendant is guilty of murder in the second degree guilty of the murder of
00:38:40
Matthew Trussler I remember Sean squeezing my hand it was a happy feeling she was
00:38:48
inconsolable I mean it it was it was very difficult I mean she was crying profusely she will be taken into custody
00:38:55
at this time on March 18th 2022 Melissa returned to court to learn her sentence she talked
00:39:08
about what she had lost on October 18th Matthew lost his life and I lost a man that I
00:39:20
loved I lost my future and my hopes and my dreams but Matthew's family also spoke struggling with both grief and
00:39:30
anger Maddie 25 years old wow so much life still ahead the life of a son a brother a
00:39:43
brother-in-law and an uncle Shan will never see his best friend again he will never be able to replace
00:39:52
you Matthew's mother spoke directly to Melissa the story that you have contrived has
00:40:00
caused me as much pain as his death if Matthew's drinking was escalating it was because of the lifestyle that you
00:40:07
involved him in it was not consistent with who he was and with the way that he was raised this jury did not believe her
00:40:16
claims of self-defense nor does this court still judge Samantha Ward offered Melissa some
00:40:24
mercy sparing her a life sentence based on the jury's verdict you are adjudicated guilty sentenced to 20.5
00:40:33
years in the Florida state prison Melissa Turner will be eligible for release before she turns
00:40:41
50 what do you guys miss about Maddie the most oh my gosh laugh probably he had a great laugh he was a good kid he
00:40:50
was he was just starting to be a man one life lost another ruined on a night juror Goodwin says didn't have to
00:41:03
happen Matthew truster didn't have to die they could have walked away from each other and started a different life
00:41:10
Melissa Turner chose to kill Matthew Trester did I think it was premeditated absolutely not do I think she's guilty
00:41:20
absolutely [Music] a knock at the door by a clown an evil clown the evil clowns you see in the
00:41:57
[Music] [Music] it's like [Music] ghosts you just see the ghosts of them [Music]
00:42:24
everywhere if you close your eyes can you still see it all of [Music] it the focus of the case is Michelle
00:42:42
Renee she was living with her uh her daughter briia they were living um in a kind of a secluded house does it feel
00:42:51
like 22 years sometimes it does sometimes it feels like a lifetime ago sometimes it
00:42:57
feels like it was last week I asked the FBI to take Michelle back to the house to help reconstruct probably the most
00:43:05
traumatic night of her life we came in the door I put the groceries away went in the kitchen
00:43:15
Michelle was a single mom she was a bank manager somebody who worked hard to gain
00:43:19
a job of position of trust and respect it had been such a long day and I was just excited to be home with Bria we
00:43:27
were on the couch it was just the two of us I was sitting here she was right beside me and we were playing Game Boy a
00:43:35
group of individuals put Michelle under surveillance knowing she was a bank manager and they devised a
00:43:42
plan and we just heard this huge the the sound just the biggest noise from behind
00:43:51
us and we I turned to look and just saw three people they were all lined up one right after the other just rushing in
00:43:59
running in the door that like squat style and they had their guns and they were all in black and I just screamed
00:44:07
super loud my daughter screamed super loud at that point my daughter took off this way but two of them came to me put
00:44:17
guns in my face one guy grabbed me back my head forced me down in front of the couch that was right here they binded
00:44:26
her up with duct tape they put her seven-year-old on the ground and bind her up with duct tape and uh they tell
00:44:32
them that uh if they don't cooperate they're going to be killed they're going to be
00:44:36
shot okay okay okay okay they let me turn around and see my daughter laying face down on the floor right here by the
00:44:48
door um face down with her hands tied and her feet tied um right there on the ground I heard my
00:45:00
daughter say are you going to kill my mommy and are you going to kill me and they said no not if your mommy does
00:45:06
everything that we tell her to do they said you're going to rob the bank for us or we will kill you and your daughter
00:45:13
will be first [Music] [Music] the only monsters that had ever scared Michelle Rene's seven-year-old daughter
00:46:11
Bria were make believe but on November 20th 2000 just a day before three masked men broke in she calls me mom there's
00:46:21
somebody outside the window I looked out there I didn't see anything I didn't see
00:46:25
anybody I just brushed it off Michelle had chocked it up to her child's imagination but this time was different
00:46:33
she saw them looking through the window they were there the night before the same men now held Michelle
00:46:42
and Bria at gunpoint in the living room the gunman said they'd been following the 35-year-old bank manager for
00:46:50
months it was very much that mind control thing that they were doing that we know everything about you Michelle
00:46:58
would recount the events inside the house for investigators and we're going to be here all night with you to make
00:47:05
sure you know exactly what you're going to do or you will die throughout the night the ring leader gave Specific
00:47:12
Instructions about how he wanted Michelle to rob her own bank the next morning we're going to go over this
00:47:19
again this is what you're going to do when Brinks gets there you're going to get Brink's money as she huddled with
00:47:24
Bria on the couch now duct taped shelle could hear him talking to a woman on a two-way radio money one to money two
00:47:32
were there that's what they called each other yeah they called each other money one to Money Two money one was the ring
00:47:38
leader around 11 the voice on the walkie-talkie got his attention car coming up the driveway the roommates
00:47:45
there it was their roommate Kimbra and they put the gun right here in her face right up her nose and said don't make us
00:47:53
use this I pushed the guy's hand out of her face face and said don't do this don't hurt her and he just pointed it
00:48:02
right at me and said don't ever touch me again Michelle realized this might be the last night she ever spent with her
00:48:10
daughter it was almost morning just rubbed her hair so she could try to get some
00:48:16
sleep wondering if that was going to be the last time I was going to get to touch her hair and see her sleep was
00:48:23
pretty tough in the morning the nightmare would continue it was like 6:00 a.m. he said
00:48:31
get up it's time to get ready for work I got dressed and started doing my hair when he came in and stopped
00:48:37
me and said we need to put the dynamite on you now Michelle her roommate Kimbra and Bria would all be strapped with
00:48:46
dynamite then money one showed Michelle what looked like a doorbell this is a detonation device one false move I
00:48:54
pushed this button you will disintegrate your will go first and they sat me right
00:48:59
here and said now we're going to take your daughter the gunman put Bria in her bedroom
00:49:05
closet I'm just telling her I'd be right back that everything is going to be fine
00:49:13
be brave Mommy that was the last thing she said went before I walked out to go to the bank did you feel Brave no as two
00:49:22
of the gunmen stayed in the house money W handed Michelle a briefcase stuffed with with a duffel bag before he
00:49:28
crouched in the back of her Jeep with dynamite on her back and a gun to her side she drove to work so you pull up
00:49:36
into your spot what does he tell you before you get out of the car don't don't this up and the Brinks truck came
00:49:43
at 8:50 I believe right around 8:50 was the drop right over here that's when Michelle grabbed her briefcase and
00:49:52
headed to the Vault I brought my teller in the vault with me and said I'm getting ready to clear out this Vault or
00:50:00
my daughter and I are going to die this is what's happened all night and you whispered to her I have Dynamite on my
00:50:05
back yes yeah I whisper I pulled my shirt up and then you just opened up the duffel bag and started shoveling in
00:50:11
money I did my heart was racing my am I fast enough Michelle's colleagues would alert the authorities but not before she
00:50:19
walked out with $360,000 just get to the Jeep hurl it in the Jeep and go and just do what's next
00:50:29
money W directed Michelle to get out a few blocks later and that I would find my Jeep down the street she found her
00:50:37
car and raced home I don't know if Bria is going to be there I don't know if she's going to be alive when I get there
00:50:43
and I went to open the door and I was just screaming and hello hello it was eerily
00:50:52
[Music] silent and I just heard Bria and I remember screaming we're back here we're
00:50:58
back here Brio was still in the closet right where Michelle left her what was that like to hear and see her oh my gosh
00:51:07
she was alive I did it we did it we didn't die probably the happiest moment of my life but then I could still see
00:51:15
the Panic on her face the Dynamite's still on me before leaving the gunman had ripped the dynamite off of Kimbra
00:51:23
and Bria so they cut it off of Michelle's back before running to the nearest neighbor I opened the gates went
00:51:30
down the hill real fast helped them up to the house Rick Brown lived up a steep hill I called 911 right
00:51:38
away sherff remember going to have you yes uh some neighbors of virs were held hostage I need somebody out here right
00:51:45
away soon the place was crawling with investigators from the FBI San Diego Sheriff's department and the bomb
00:51:52
squad this is the dynamite that was taken off of um shell San Diego prosecutor Tom Manning would lead the
00:52:00
task force investigating the case they quickly figured out the dynamite was fake they realized that it actually is
00:52:09
two painted dowels or broomstick handles but as you can see from a distance in the lighting plus it's on your back with
00:52:16
the stress of the situation you're not going to take a chance that it isn't real but during the very real 14 hours
00:52:23
they were held hostage Michelle had held on to any any detail that might help identify the
00:52:29
attackers remembering details is just sort of this part of my DNA about people that was kind of my superpower details
00:52:38
like money one's eyes when I turn the light on and go to the bathroom and I saw his eyes in there I I said that
00:52:45
those eyes were at my desk those eyes were at my desk today oh my God Michelle says it was a man with whom she'd had an
00:52:54
odd encounter at the bank hours before before being taken hostage and he sat at my desk for a really long time asking
00:53:02
sort of the same questions over and over and then a woman walked in and said Chris we need to get going and they got
00:53:10
up and left the man had handed Michelle his business card and the name on the business card was Christopher Butler
00:53:31
[Music] after hours of police questioning Michelle and Bria were sent to a hotel Michelle called her brother Dave
00:53:42
it didn't sound like her was someone you know heavily traumatized Dave who lived 3 hours away
00:53:51
rushed to his sister's Aid what I saw when I opened that door door it scared the Daylights out of me
00:53:58
are you okay and she would Shake how about Bria same thing in the days ahead Michelle
00:54:07
struggled to hold it together for her daughter she was the strongest person for me while investigators wanted
00:54:17
answers they grilled her about that odd encounter with Christopher Butler why was he in the bank what was
00:54:24
he saying he was there for he came came in to say that he was a potential client and that he wanted to talk about
00:54:34
investments before Butler handed Michelle his business card a woman he introduced as Lisa came in and whisked
00:54:40
him away hey Chris we need to go it was the same voice Michelle says she heard later that night on the
00:54:48
walkie-talkie I kept saying it over and over check my desk that c my desk get that card I know that it's them through
00:54:55
that card they started the investigation the FBI soon discovered Butler was a convicted felon with a
00:55:02
history of robbing banks they figured out where he was staying and then uh the team that I work with set up
00:55:11
surveillance Butler and his fiance Lisa Ramirez lived in a house just a few miles from the bank some of the people
00:55:18
in the house were telling the police who was there when they planned it within days detectives identified the two other
00:55:24
men Christopher hug there was a big guy maybe maybe 6'4 he's gang ties and the man who' held a gun to
00:55:34
little Bria a gang member called Bones real name Robert Ortiz Ortiz was a connection who got the guns on December
00:55:44
1st they decided to arrest Butler and Ramirez during a traffic stop in the glove compartment was a
00:55:54
weapon it's it's actually a BB gun if you look at that in a stressful situation that looks as real as it can
00:56:00
get what they find when they pump the trunk plethora of evidence all this all this they found the uh the black bag
00:56:06
that Michelle described the money being carried in uh several pairs of black gloves and um a homemade ski mask oh
00:56:17
yeah look at the eye holes there yeah mhm but they clearly cut themselves Michelle's credit cards were all found
00:56:24
in the uh trunk of the vehicle and then of course the money straps from the bank
00:56:29
also in the trunk that doorbell Detonator and there was even more at the house they found all the ingredients uh
00:56:37
to make the fake bomb there were broom handles which were cut up into small dowels which actually were used in
00:56:45
making the the fake Dynamite they also recovered the the actual spray cans Ramirez's uh fingerprint was on one of
00:56:53
those cans it was crazy I've never seen that much physical evidence left at a crime scene they thought they'd gotten
00:56:59
away with it yeah one thing investigators didn't find on Butler and Ramirez any of the bank's
00:57:07
$360,000 but after arresting Huggins that same day they did recover 93,000 of the cash that he'd stashed away Huggins
00:57:17
confessed and said that he'd already spent several Grand on a trip to Vegas the fourth suspect Robert
00:57:25
Ortiz was on the lamb when authorities arrested him 3 months later in Wisconsin Ortiz still had
00:57:32
$32,000 of the bank's money and gave a full confession did Huggins and Ortiz's confessions corroborate each other yes
00:57:42
very much so so did Huggins and Ortiz's confessions corroborate what Michelle had told investigators yes almost
00:57:50
identical Butler denied everything even when confronted with direct evidence his thumb print on the fake Dynamite
00:57:59
sticks and we got fingerprints that are yours that went you I wasn't involved he tried to protect Lisa Lisa
00:58:13
wouldn't have been involved with that but Lisa was about to start talking she admitted she was the female voice on the
00:58:23
walkie-talkie she even took credit for the idea to use fake dynamite and kidnap the bank
00:58:30
manager idea was about 8 months ago jokingly lying Lisa said they'd split the money three ways but that her and
00:58:39
Butler share more than $100,000 had been stolen and to everyone's surprise she said Michelle
00:58:47
was in on the plot they told me this Michelle they was talking walked out of that um thinking okay leas
00:59:00
is leas is The Mastermind behind all this and um is it possible Michelle's involved Manning says ultimately he knew
00:59:09
Michelle was innocent the first time I interviewed her she had Bria with her and I I I saw that Bond and relationship
00:59:16
and when she left I went she's not involved in this but that wouldn't be enough in Court San Diego County
00:59:23
Sheriff's detectives Rudy Zamora Dale Martin and Randy demur would have to rule Michelle out as a
00:59:32
suspect every time we pushed a button she would react in a way a true victim should they recreated the dynamite packs
00:59:42
and strapped them on Kimbra Michelle and Bria she was very upset and Michelle was
00:59:51
emotional when asked to revisit the horrific details of the kidnapping and then they I had to put her in there and
00:59:59
they shut the shut the closet she was shaking up I thought she was going to have a nervous
01:00:09
breakdown when Michelle did those reenactments were her story kimbra's story and bria's story consistent yes
01:00:18
completely consistent in fact investigators couldn't find any evidence Michelle was involved still they worried
01:00:26
she was not our normal victim as they took a deep dive into Michelle's life what did they find out about Michelle's
01:00:33
past she didn't hide anything including the fact that for years she had worked as a
01:00:40
stripper I'm not embarrassed or ashamed by any of that Michelle says it was one of the choices she had to make for
01:00:47
survival at a young age I ran away at 15 I worked really really hard to get to where I was with no high school diploma
01:00:56
she had climbed the corporate ladder all the way to regional vice president before taking the bank manager job to be
01:01:03
home more with Bria and while you were working at the bank you were still dancing still stripping for a while I
01:01:10
was for a while the money was really great but more worrisome were things that went directly to Michelle's
01:01:18
credibility she falsified resumés claimed she had various experience various education which she didn't have
01:01:25
bounced a check back filed for bankruptcy right that doesn't look good it doesn't look good and if you're a
01:01:30
defense attorney you look in your chops oh was the best verdict I ever got in my
01:01:37
life see what evidence investigators found in the kidnapping of Michelle Ren that 48
01:01:50
hours.com by Spring of 2001 the suspects were in custody awaiting trial for kidnapping and bank robbery charges but
01:01:58
Michelle and Bria were still reeling from that night of Terror I could still hear them I could
01:02:07
still hear the the sounds I couldn't get it to turn off I just wanted to hide I thought they were going to find us they
01:02:15
were going to kill us still in June Michelle decided to move Bria to Alaska to live with her
01:02:24
grandmother I was going to fly her up there and get her to safety I was going to figure out
01:02:31
what to do from there after a few days Michelle says she had an epiphany to go back to San Diego and get
01:02:40
rid of everything I could possibly get rid of and drive back to Alaska with a dog come here some cash
01:02:49
can do this on a budget and a camcorder today is July the 6th she embarked on a nday day drive I'm on my way baby doll
01:02:58
to the Last Frontier you had a deadline I had a deadline bria's birthday was in N9 days
01:03:06
and I promised her I'd be back before her birthday party that's when Michelle and Bria say
01:03:15
they began to heal did you feel safe in Alaska safer I could be a kid again happy birthday to you by the time they
01:03:25
were turned to San Diego a year later for the trial Michelle says she was ready there was so much evidence there
01:03:33
was no way I thought that this trial was going to be anything but slam dunk Butler and Ramirez would be tried first
01:03:43
when her case came across your desk what did you think at first she's guilty you thought she's
01:03:51
guilty well yeah herb Weston who represented Lisa Ramirez had a problem his client had confessed on camera there
01:04:00
was a female voice that came all at once walk if they played that tape saying that she wasn't involved would have been
01:04:10
difficult Weston proposed a plea deal hoping to save Ramirez from a potential life sentence but the prosecution turned
01:04:18
him down we thought we would definitely get State the key statements in that she
01:04:23
was involved but since Ramirez had also implicated Butler the judge ruled her entire statement
01:04:32
inadmissible we now can at least argue to the jury that she wasn't involved without her confession the case against
01:04:42
Ramirez relied almost entirely on Michelle a fact Manning was keenly aware of during his opening statement to the
01:04:51
jury on June 3rd 2002 when you told the jury that this case was about credibility right Michelle's uh
01:05:00
background was was going to be an issue I knew there were issues but I believed her and you thought the jury would
01:05:06
believe her right but not if the defense had its way what was your strategy going
01:05:11
into trial my strategy was to beat the hell out of the victim and show all these
01:05:19
inconsistencies that the victim is saying it got very confrontational I was really really off
01:05:27
that played right into Weston's hand angry Witnesses don't come across as credible I was treated like I was the
01:05:35
criminal during his cross-examination Weston implied Michelle was lying about recognizing Lisa Ramirez's voice on the
01:05:44
walkie-talkie wait a minute ma'am I've looked at all this stuff isn't this the first time you've said that in fact he
01:05:50
pointed out it wasn't in any of the FBI reports but Michelle insists she told them I did I 100% did and Manning says
01:06:00
she identified Lisa's voice to him before taking the stand does it bother you that Lisa actually admitted that
01:06:08
that was her voice on the walkie-talkie the fact is it was Lisa but that's not the issue for me it made a great opening
01:06:16
to attack her credibility Weston then grilled Michelle about bait money the traceable bills Banks keep in their
01:06:24
vaults to trap bank robbers you didn't take the bait money did not take the de bait money why not they said no funny
01:06:32
money you say that's suspicious that she must have been in on it correct maybe worst of all for Michelle Weston
01:06:39
questioned her maternal instincts would a mother run to a place where her daughter was if she believes that I have
01:06:49
a bomb on my back she wasn't sure whether her daughter was dead or alive don't you think it's possible that she
01:06:55
wasn't thinking straight sure but also what could be true is she knew there wasn't a bomb and so she didn't have to
01:07:03
worry about it did you feel like you were on trial I 100% felt like I was on trial I would be
01:07:09
sitting in the front row and all I could think about was it's going to take me maybe 6 seconds to get from this point
01:07:17
to the offender that is how I rap I was day after day listening to this listening to this is it fair to beat up
01:07:24
the victim AB absolutely while Weston hammered on every decision Michelle made that day the attorney representing
01:07:31
Butler went after everything else what was the worst thing they asked you about my sex life they were trying to paint me
01:07:39
as somebody that was irresponsible a selfish terrible mother that would do anything for
01:07:47
money and they picked apart Michelle's finances she's in uh Financial uh distress and that could be the motive
01:07:56
isn't it kind of odd that we're talking about motive when we're talking about a victim it is the defense in the case was
01:08:02
to uh make Michelle a uh uh a culprit here after Michelle's grueling three-day testimony it was Christopher Butler's
01:08:12
turn he protected Lisa on the stand claiming Michelle was The Mastermind and that they'd had an affair I was shocked
01:08:23
it's almost laughable what was his story about how the two of you met from what I
01:08:27
understand we met in a grocery store and that I recruited him Butler claimed that
01:08:33
he'd gone to Michelle's house that night with Huggins and Ortiz he said that in the early morning hours while smoking
01:08:39
pot Michelle brought up the bank robbery idea again and decided they should do it
01:08:44
that morning his evidence of this his proof of this zero if any of this were true he would have thrown Michelle down
01:08:51
in a heartbeat in his interview the jury deliberate ated for 5 days before finding Butler guilty of the
01:08:59
bank robbery and Bria and kimbra's kidnapping but they hung 9 to3 on the charges of kidnapping Michelle when we
01:09:07
talked to the jurors you know we discovered it was one juror who completely believed Butler and the other
01:09:13
two jurors were unsure and they found Lisa Ramirez not guilty on all counts oh was the best verdict I ever got in my
01:09:23
life mindboggling the fact that it was her idea to do this to a mother and a child and laughing and proud of it how
01:09:32
involved do you think she was in this very involved the investigators kept saying she she was the brains of the
01:09:37
outfit so the brains of the outfit walked right the second trial would go very differently with Huggin and Ortiz easily
01:09:47
convicted in so many of uh the stories that we tell the ending is the conviction but in your case in a lot of
01:09:55
ways that's just the beginning how do you feel about the defense falsely claiming that Michelle
01:10:03
was in on it chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and Twitter all righty it's working yeah if
01:10:21
you close your eyes can you still see it okay all of it I can still see all of it even though the men who had
01:10:31
terrorized them were now serving multiple life sentences Michelle and Bria would never
01:10:39
be the same there's aspects of that night that are going to be with me for the rest of
01:10:44
my life they were treated for post-traumatic stress disorder for over two years they had their guns Michelle
01:10:52
says dealing with the Breakin led to a breakthrough it was two choices call them monsters and stay angry and blame
01:11:02
everything in my life on them or I can take this other Road the best thing I could do for Bria is to be an example
01:11:09
enjoy the book Michelle wrote a book which was made into a TV movie and she and Bria went on speaking
01:11:17
tours to discuss their experience with trauma a lot of people coming out of this would want to just forget about it
01:11:24
put it behind them but you and your mom talked openly about it yes and I think it was the best decision for us we're
01:11:31
speaking out about our experience I was showing people that it's not always the end all be all when something bad
01:11:39
happens to you you can come out of it stronger up 2 and by 2011 she really turned the corner and started enjoying
01:11:48
her life again the girl who had hidden from everything was a high school senior and competitive cheerleader she loved it
01:11:57
it was her absolute passion you're thriving you're living the dream you said you dreamed of this
01:12:04
you were living the dream I was then suddenly senior year in December I started feeling a little off
01:12:15
I was dropping things showed up at my work at 6:00 dragging her leg going mommy something's really wrong
01:12:22
something's wrong I don't know what's happening I said Mom I'm really scared they had no idea Ria was in for
01:12:30
the fight of her life we rushed her to the hospital and they started pricking her
01:12:36
leg and she couldn't feel it and her heart rate started going crazy oh my gosh by 8:00 p.m. that night I was
01:12:46
paralyzed on my left side couldn't talk couldn't swallow blinding my left eye we
01:12:51
found abnormalities in the brain is all they could tell me that that night it almost sounds like there's that same
01:12:58
feeling of helplessness that you had the night that you were held hostage completely the next morning Brio was
01:13:05
diagnosed with an acute onset of multiple sclerosis an autoimmune disease in which the body's immune system
01:13:12
attacks its own tissues based on the scans she has Tuma active Ms which is not only rare in and of itself but
01:13:20
people bria's age at 18 rarely get Ms Bri says she was told she might never walk or talk again just like that just
01:13:30
like that 1 2 3 go my life just ended again there I was 18 trying to go off to college do cheer
01:13:40
in college and that was never going to happen for me so much of your healing had been talking and now you couldn't
01:13:49
talk no I couldn't talk it I couldn't feed myself anymore she had to relearn all of that oh good but
01:13:59
it was as if they'd been training for this for years do you think in some way what
01:14:05
happened to you when you were seven prepared you for battling Ms yes I think it made me strong enough to go through
01:14:14
what I went through with MS and it was here we go again here we go again Bria would spend six weeks in the
01:14:24
hospital two to three times a day of physical therapy occupational therapy speech
01:14:32
therapy after she could talk again she turned to me and said kidnapping was a piece of cake compared to
01:14:40
this do it again and just as with the kidnapping Bria wanted to inspire others she wrote her college essay from her
01:14:49
hospital room from her wheelchair it is my hope that my college experience and said I'm going going to college I am
01:14:56
going to be the first person in my family to graduate college no matter what I now know that there is no time to
01:15:03
waste life can change so suddenly she chronicled her journey on her Facebook page Bria I love
01:15:13
you she fought tooth and nail every single day for every single step she took she walked out of the hospital this
01:15:22
time it was Michelle doing the cheerleading hey Bri the rehab started in the hospital
01:15:30
but the real rehab was Michelle constantly on her we're going to do this it's okay good job we were a
01:15:38
total team we just ended up going into full gear we lived in a house with stairs good that was really good she
01:15:45
couldn't do stairs anymore so once again you're out of a home that you've been living in yeah and
01:15:51
I had to become her full-time caregiver for about a year year and a half 2 years
01:15:57
and rebuilding our life again despite the odds 4 5 oh she made it to college she relapsed three times her first year
01:16:07
in college and had to come home but she did it she follows in her mom's footsteps teaching her how to get her
01:16:14
foot to stay on the line I with the tenacity and the never give up philosophy that they have lift your knee
01:16:21
up ready go Bria is walking talking proof so they told you you would never walk again yeah I would never walk again
01:16:29
never see again never anything like that and I would say I beat the odds yet again yes exactly but 20 years
01:16:39
after their world first Came Crashing Down they'd be faced with the unimaginable once
01:16:45
again Christopher Butler could be released [Music] it's been over 20 years what stands out about this case in
01:17:11
hindsight the victims from the very beginning the case hit close to home for prosecutor Tom
01:17:20
Manning the fact that there was a a little girl my daughter was the same AG is Bria when this happened nearly 20
01:17:28
years later in June 2020 Christopher Butler was up for parole he's the one who lied about
01:17:37
me Manning made sure he was at the hearing and you had a plan going in I did he saw a chance to set the record
01:17:46
straight by asking Butler about the story he told on the stand I told Michelle if I felt it was
01:17:54
right I was going to go for it what' you think about that go for it ask away even
01:18:00
though that's risky it's a little risky this guy could go to the Grave with these lies the risk paid off Butler
01:18:08
recanted his whole story admitting he and Michelle never had a relationship how did that feel to hear
01:18:16
that H it's about time I wanted everybody who ever doubted me to read the this parole
01:18:25
transcript I want to blast it all over the Internet that there was never ever a chance that I would ever ever have been
01:18:33
involved in anything like this ever Bria says it's a Bittersweet victory for her
01:18:40
Mom feels good but it's a little too late you can search my mom's name and it can come up on the internet you can't
01:18:48
take that back why does it take him so long to come clean and it's probably because he had an
01:18:55
opportunity to be free even though Butler was unequivocal that Michelle was not involved he still
01:19:03
hasn't really taken responsibility he blamed his old flame Lisa Ramirez but Butler said he was sorry for
01:19:12
what he' put his victims through and even said he'd read Michelle's book more than once he said some of the passages
01:19:20
in your book really got to him yeah on the road trip to Alaska I really started to think about what it would be like to
01:19:28
try to just understand Michelle says that's when she started to wonder about the people
01:19:37
behind the masks this is someone's son this is someone's brother this is someone's
01:19:43
grandson what happened to them in their life that got them to the point where they thought the only option was to
01:19:50
attack a mother and her daughter do you accept Christopher Butler's apology I do yeah
01:19:58
th% I appreciate him finally being honest after all this time I hope he keeps digging
01:20:05
deeper yeah I forgave him a long time ago and I accept his apology but neither Bria nor Michelle
01:20:13
want Butler released he's already been denied parole twice the irony isn't lost on Dave all
01:20:21
he really did is free everybody else he's held with his life in a very weird way I could breathe I could exhale
01:20:33
finally after all this time while they don't believe Butler has changed his ways they feel very differently about
01:20:41
the other two men who held them hostage they confessed they take accountability for what they did and
01:20:50
that's a big thing are you actually rooting for these guys to succeed at this Point yes they were younger than
01:20:57
what I am now if they are doing the work I want nothing but the best for them especially Robert Ortiz Robert Ortiz at
01:21:07
the sentencing Robert Ortiz is the only one that turned around and looked at me and said I'm
01:21:12
sorry he mouthed it they wrote to Ortiz back in 2011 and received a reply 9 years
01:21:22
later out of respect for him I'm not going to say everything that's in the letter I can say that it's beautiful
01:21:31
it's heartfelt and I can't wait to see where that leads this is the young man who held a
01:21:39
gun to your daughter's head yes and she spoke at his parole Hearing in his favor there's my puppy we're road
01:21:49
tripping in the meantime Michelle has written a follow-up book so we're on our way about the road trip that changed her
01:21:57
point of view great warning really great warning it is about healing just called
01:22:03
9 days which is how long I was on the road to Alaska it is possible to forgive I do
01:22:10
believe that through this terrible tragedy it's possible to see beauty again that something beautiful was meant
01:22:18
to come about Alaska it has built these people into these incredible human beings and through it all they say they
01:22:31
wouldn't change a thing even the kidnapping so if you look back at the last 20 years what is this journey been
01:22:42
about raising a remarkable daughter it's the best thing I've ever done in my life
01:22:48
this be her mom it seems like both of you look at this at least a tiny bit as a gift
01:22:58
mhm yeah I wouldn't change it it gave us a chance to build the bond that we have
01:23:05
today and it's just gotten stronger [Music] yeah I'm Aaron morti and this is my My
01:23:24
Life Of Crime listen to My Life Of Crime from 48 Hours wherever you get your podcasts I'm
01:23:32
here that's beautiful 48 Hours presents I've handled hundreds of firearms through the course of daily
01:23:53
casework the majority are handgun types and then we see a fair amount of semi-automatic
01:24:07
rifles and a variety of [Music] shotguns detectives lren and McCarthy presented this case to the Firearms
01:24:20
unit they had a woman who had accidentally shot got her husband with a revolver tell me what this gun is this
01:24:29
is the same Mak model of firearm that was recovered from the Duffy residence when I first walked in Sun was
01:24:37
coming through the sliding glass door it just looked very peaceful until I walked
01:24:43
in and saw Mr Duffy laying on the couch there was a lot of blood on the carp and there was some blood on the
01:24:51
wall lots of blood but based on what I was being told about her middle class educated woman she didn't fit the
01:25:00
profile of a murderer this could be an accident she's eccentric and quirky she gives that impression the minute you
01:25:08
meet her she was very entertaining and very funny love to laugh you either really really liked Linda or you really
01:25:15
thought wow she cannot be trusted I've investigated well over a 100 murders I'm sorry Linda okay I was very anxious to
01:25:23
hear how this this accident happened you have to understand Pat and I joke around
01:25:28
a lot with each other she said we have this thing that we always do we morph in the cartoon characters and sorry they
01:25:36
what they morph in the cartoon characters what's up Jack there was a Bugs Bunny cartoon with Elmer fud and he
01:25:43
does this silly little Elmer fud voice no more bullets no more bullets and she said she began to talk to him in her
01:25:49
Elmer fud voice no more bullets and she said she wanted to impress him and she walked over and picked the gun up no
01:25:57
more bullets no more bullets he told me there was no bullets in the gun well I don't believe she could have fired it in
01:26:03
the manner she said she did an's right there I wanted to believe her story it's not a a believable story I had that gut
01:26:13
feeling there was something more Sinister I'm Richard slesinger tonight on 48 hour
01:26:25
The Bugs Bunny [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] defense this is the matter of Linda guad
01:26:52
she is present before the court both Council are present 7 years after she shot her husband in their Suburban
01:26:59
Living Room Linda Duffy gatz is in a Los Angeles County Court denying as strongly
01:27:06
as she can that she is a murderess this was a horrible accident and I wish and pray
01:27:15
constantly that I could be able to take away your pain but I can't this case is not a who done it
01:27:24
it's more of a why' she do it Linda admits she shot her husband Patrick Duffy in 2007 but she says it was an
01:27:32
awful and unlikely accident she's had to convince authorities that fact can be Stranger Than Fiction because her legal
01:27:41
defense has featured among other things a cast of cartoon characters here let me
01:27:47
see that thinging her lawyer has used the words of Bugs Bunny and Elmer fud to explain her actions as he insisted she
01:27:57
is innocent we're going to ask you to tell us what happened today Linda talked to police voluntarily and without a
01:28:04
lawyer just hours after the shooting it was it was pointed down and the next thing I
01:28:11
know he his hand was right there just laying there well let's go by the house Sean m
01:28:24
karthy and Shannon Len have been homicide detectives for the LA County Sheriff's Department for 13 years
01:28:31
forgive the cliche but they really did think they'd pretty much seen it all here's the house right here and then on
01:28:40
April 26th 2007 they got a call about a shooting at the Duffy's house in Suburban Whit here my husband was going
01:28:49
to go shooting and I accidentally shot him help stay on the line with me ma'am this is the couch that that you saw in
01:28:57
the living room yes yes Mr Duffy was right here McCarthy and Len found Patrick Duffy dead on the couch his left
01:29:05
hand was in his pocket and his right knee was being supported by a pillow very comfortable relaxed there was blood
01:29:12
pulled on the floor and splattered on the wall and it was a pretty good size blood puddle right in here clearly he
01:29:18
had a gunshot wound to the Head the couple's two teenage Sons Sha and Thomas were at school so Linda was the only
01:29:28
surviving witness and detective Len had a funny feeling looked like he'd been sleeping on the couch and somebody
01:29:35
walked up and shot him in his sleep what did you think I was leaning that this was an accident detective McCarthy has
01:29:42
been investigating homicide cases for about 13 years and knows how to spot even the tiniest Clues he saw very
01:29:51
little here that made him suspicious ious do you guys disagree frequently on cases I disagree with all my partners on
01:29:59
every case well so how does that work I I think we kind of wait until we have more information I wanted to hear her
01:30:06
story she was very entertaining L to tell stories Julie Prendergast has been listening to Linda's stories since they
01:30:15
first became friends in a college music program in the 80s she said well actually I'm from um Ireland and she
01:30:22
started talking with what I thought was a pretty phony accent that was my first indication that Linda was a little bit
01:30:29
different Julie says Linda could be irreverent even goofy I would say Linda I'm going to tell you something and
01:30:36
you're going to want to laugh but we're in class right now so don't laugh out loud and it would just pop out anyway
01:30:42
after they left school Julie and Linda ended up working at the same place and one day Julie says Linda called with
01:30:51
some news she said I'm I'm so excited I'm getting married and I'd like you to be in my wedding the groom was a man
01:30:57
Linda had met 4 years earlier Patrick Duffy a radio engineer gun enthusiast and Private Pilot she just said it was
01:31:07
like her dream come true and she couldn't be happier they seemed happy as a family they understood each other
01:31:13
Patrick's sister Katherine hunt says Patrick and Linda were soulmates and Playmates they were kidding with each
01:31:20
other joking with each other we're just always just joking around with each other and being silly and having a good
01:31:26
time and it was that silliness that became a Cornerstone of Linda's story when she explained to police what
01:31:34
happened the day she killed her husband then I came into the family room and he was sitting on the the sofa she said
01:31:42
they had just come back from a doctor's appointment Patrick had chronic circulation problems Linda said he'd
01:31:49
been planning to go to the shooting range his 38 one of three revolvers he kept in the house was nearby we keep it
01:31:59
in this little locked box Linda told police she usually stayed away from the guns but that day she picked up the 38
01:32:08
and the story got stranger as it went on we do this little silly thing we always
01:32:12
kind of relate little silly conversations to like cartoons that we've seen when we were younger and
01:32:17
stuff and he does this silly little Elmer fed voice no more bullets and she claimed she said to him no more buets in
01:32:24
Elmer fud's voice no more bullets and she said his response was no more bullets no more buets she said it was a
01:32:33
game they played all the time and that when her husband said no more bullets in his Elmer fud voice she took it to mean
01:32:41
the gun was empty and that it was safe to try something Patrick had taught her she said that she then wanted to impress
01:32:49
him by showing him she can shoot a cowboy style it's called fanf firing and any fan of
01:32:57
westerns knows it you hold the trigger down and keep pulling back the hammer so the gun fires
01:33:07
quickly wa you told me there was no bullets than the gun she says once she started fanf firing she couldn't stop in
01:33:15
time to avoid hitting her husband who leaned into the line of fire and the next thing I
01:33:22
know he his hand was right there the statement about the fan firing it just didn't sound right but
01:33:31
his partner detective Shawn McCarthy who had heard his share of crazy explanations from suspected Killers
01:33:39
listened to that panick 911 tape listened to Linda's story and concluded the story was just wacky enough to be
01:33:49
true the overwhelming feeling that I got from her was she was odd at best and eccentric at worst after they
01:33:58
interviewed Linda for an hour they let her go home and when you left work that day did you have in your mind that she
01:34:07
was a suspect no his gut told him Linda was innocent but he'd need more he'd need science the
01:34:17
muzzle of the firearm was between a distance of 1 and 7 in from his head [Music]
01:34:37
when he first studied the scene where Linda Duffy killed her husband detective Shawn McCarthy was pretty sure it was an
01:34:44
accident he believed her story that she had reenacted their favorite Bugs Bunny cartoon no more bullets no more
01:34:54
boets and then fan fired the gun and when he talked to Linda later that day start with when you got up this morning
01:35:04
she said nothing that made him doubt her it's my fault no it's not your fault it's just it's it's just that we need to
01:35:13
understand larren and McCarthy were beginning to understand more about what happened inside the Duffy home
01:35:21
especially after they talked to the medical examiner who had just done an autopsy on Patrick Duffy there was a
01:35:28
second gunshot wound Linda Duffy claimed this was an accident but she had shot her husband in
01:35:37
the head not once but twice and believe it or not even seasoned investigators can miss that kind of clue at the crime
01:35:46
scene you could not see the second gunshot wound well because of uh dried blood and and the the amount of blood
01:35:54
and coagulated blood we weren't privy to the second gunshot one what did you make
01:35:59
of that well it's certainly was a red flag but it was not just a red flag for McCarthy's partner Shannon lren it was
01:36:09
more like a bright red arrow pointing right at Linda Duffy there was so many highly improbable events that would have
01:36:17
had to have all lined up for this to actually have been an accident they didn't line up
01:36:23
oh still Shan McCarthy was not convinced why didn't you just say this is going to
01:36:28
be murder because I needed to be convinced to myself that this was murder the last thing in the world I
01:36:35
want to do is send an innocent person to prison for the rest of their lives it wasn't enough for McCarthy to know what
01:36:41
happened he wanted to know why it happened we struggled to find a compelling motive and we looked and we
01:36:49
looked and we looked but they couldn't really find one the Duffy seemed to be an average middle class family living
01:36:56
here in the LA suburbs there was a life insurance policy on Patrick but they' bought that decades earlier plus there
01:37:04
was no evidence of cheating and considering her eccentric personality detective McCarthy could not just
01:37:12
dismiss Linda's story okay maybe this could have happened the way she said cuz she's so quirky and eccentric but it was
01:37:20
about to get a little harder for McCarthy to believe Linda story because of Tracy
01:37:30
peek the Firearms expert for the sheriff's department who was brought into the case by McCarthy and
01:37:37
Len remember according to Linda she fired the way they did in the movies it is possible to do that pretty
01:37:48
easily with the right kind of gun this is the kind of gun that you can fan fire right correct so this is a a single
01:37:56
action revolver this type of firearm is fired by cocking the hammer and pulling the trigger the guns they used in the
01:38:04
cowboy movies were single action guns you can easily keep firing quickly by pulling and releasing the
01:38:14
hammer while the trigger is held back when the hammer is fanned the cylinder will rotate with this type of gun so it
01:38:21
will fire the cartridges in the chambers of the cylinder as it's being fanned the Duffy had two single
01:38:29
action revolvers in the house but the gun Linda used to shoot her husband was not one of them it is a double action
01:38:38
revolver and there's a big difference the shooter simply pulls the trigger which accomplishes both cocking the
01:38:45
hammer and releasing the hammer and the gun will fire to Rapid Fire a double action revolver the shooter has to do
01:38:55
all sorts of things at the right time and in the right sequence is this gun designed to be fired that way no for the
01:39:03
purposes of this case I essentially invented a way in which I would conceivably fan this uh and that
01:39:10
included pulling the trigger releasing the trigger Fanning the hammer pulling the trigger releasing
01:39:19
the trigger and Fanning the hammer but doing it pretty quickly and pec says it's very hard to aim while
01:39:28
doing all that she says the unexpected defining noise of the gun and The Recoil would have alarmed Linda if she didn't
01:39:36
know the gun was loaded according to PEC it would have been next to impossible for Linda who claims to be an amateur to
01:39:44
shoot her husband twice rapidly by accident especially since the wounds were so close together
01:39:54
I don't find it a very believable story I still wanted to believe her but it clearly couldn't have gone down the way
01:40:02
that she said that it went down by now detective McCarthy was all but certain that Patrick Duffy's death
01:40:10
was no accident but the two detectives felt they didn't have enough to prove it because of a heavy workload it took 2
01:40:19
years but in January 2009 McCarthy and lren brought Linda back in for another chat the video wasn't working but you
01:40:29
can still hear their conversation he show me how to do it really fast because you got to do it
01:40:35
like the cowboy well in the second interview I think we were both convinced that this was a murder they showed her a
01:40:42
video of Tracy peek fanf firing the gun I think she was certainly surprised when
01:40:48
we explained to her how difficult it would be I could tell the light bulb went on in her brain and she said I got
01:40:56
to at least change the story a little bit Linda now said she and her husband had practiced fanf firing with an
01:41:05
unloaded revolver for years like yeah 15 20 times I'm did you believe her this time no but the
01:41:15
detectives wanted to give Linda one last chance to show them how she fired the gun and they made her an un usual offer
01:41:25
meet us at the range we'll bring an exact replica and show us that you can fire this gun in the manner that you
01:41:31
said the detectives were certain Linda would not kill again so they let her go home again and waited to hear from her
01:41:40
about their offer days turned into weeks and then months and life went on at the Homicide
01:41:48
Bureau we change partners and when that happens you start getting new new cases and other cases start falling to the
01:41:57
Wayside as the years passed Linda might have thought she was off the hook but her past was about to catch up with her
01:42:07
the district attorney said I'm going to file this case and I need to go get [Music]
01:42:21
her with no news for nearly 5 years Patrick Duffy's brother John and sister Catherine hunt thought the police had
01:42:30
decided his death was an accident and had closed the investigation but Catherine says she had a hard time
01:42:37
believing what Linda told her when she called on that awful day she was incoherent and I said
01:42:47
um what happened he was cleaning his gun and it accidentally went Linda had told the police that she had
01:42:55
shot Patrick by accident but later that night she told his siblings he shot himself could you picture him having
01:43:04
that kind of an accident no absolutely not we were raised with guns and we were taught to empty our we weapons before
01:43:12
even entering the house and that was like the number one rule it was hard to believe that he had done something like
01:43:20
that and Katherine learned she was right the day after pat dieded when she met Linda at the funeral home I said where
01:43:29
was he shot and she went like this just like that that's when it hit me that he didn't shoot
01:43:36
himself I said so tell me what really happen she said oh you're going to hate me you're going to hate me you're going
01:43:43
to hate me I said no I'm not going to hate you but I need to know what the truth is and
01:43:49
I said did you shoot my brother in the head and she said yes it was there in the funeral home where
01:43:56
Catherine first heard the tale of Elmer fud Pat had told her no bullets like no bullets like like Daffy Duck and Elmer
01:44:07
fud because they would talk in cartoon characters sometimes she thought the gun wasn't loaded and it went
01:44:14
off I couldn't quite understand why she' lied if it was an accident it was an accident but she had lied to us but the
01:44:25
police still had to prove she had lied to them about why she shot him detectives had interrogated her twice
01:44:32
and released her twice the second time they let her go they'd made that unusual offer to meet her at the firing
01:44:40
range we even told her it can be at your convenience they weren't shocked when they didn't hear back from her and
01:44:47
several months later they stopped by the Duffy's house and saw a for sale sign her sons were home they said she's on
01:44:55
her honeymoon in Italy two years after the shooting Linda Duffy was Linda gatz newly married to Lawrence gatz who
01:45:06
anyone in the saxophone world knows is a world class player when we Googled him he was
01:45:15
playing in Carnegie Hall and once again when Wedding Bells rang so did Julie pendergast's phone
01:45:24
she asked me what I sing in that wedding and I said what Linda I'm not coming to your wedding something's not
01:45:32
right surrounding the death of Patrick Julie says she was uneasy with how Linda just moved on she dyed her hair blonde
01:45:42
she was wearing different style of clothes she seemed to be walking on air on clouds like oh just as happy as can
01:45:49
be a year after shooting her first husband Linda met guat online she moved to Mississippi where
01:45:56
her new husband was a music professor she was out of sight but for detectives Len and McCarthy she was not out of mind
01:46:06
did you forget about this case was there a period of time where oh no absolutely
01:46:10
not when their workload with their new partners permitted McCarthy and Len each turned their attention back to
01:46:19
[Music] Linda they wanted to take a new look at the blood evidence with a new expert
01:46:26
Paul delh Hower he studied the photos and police reports and concluded Linda had to be lying based on her statements
01:46:34
police believed Linda was claiming that she had fired quickly and from the same spot she moved and the relative position
01:46:42
of the gun to the Head changed we are standing next to the couch on which Patrick Duffy died delh Hower said the
01:46:49
blood evidence told him a lot especially these tiny stains on Linda's clothing and the walls called spatter which he
01:46:59
says came from the first shot the barrel has to be within about 3 Ines of the head in order to produce the spatter
01:47:07
delh Hower says the second shot created a large pool of blood on the floor in the exact spot where Linda said she was
01:47:16
standing she would have been getting Jets of blood um hitting her Linda Duffy have any blood on her very little yeah
01:47:24
very very little police thought they now had proof that Linda was lying she didn't have
01:47:31
enough blood on her after the shooting to support her story Laren and McCarthy thought they knew what really happened
01:47:40
she took aim fired one round while he was sleeping realized he wasn't Dead comes back on target fires the second
01:47:47
round and that's why they're within 2 Ines of each other they believe Patrick's death wasn't an accident it
01:47:55
was an execution by 2012 the new prosecutor assigned to the case was eager to move
01:48:03
ahead and police began talking to Linda's co-workers boy that was very revealing well they consistently talked
01:48:11
about how she was so Charming but then as time went on they started finding out that she was this compulsive liar and
01:48:20
Julie Prendergast had a few stories to tell about her one-time friend's record when it comes to telling the truth we
01:48:30
all have one gallbladder Linda had hers removed three times Linda just always needed seemed to want to have attention
01:48:38
it was enough for McCarthy I became absolutely convinced that we need to prosecut
01:48:46
her so finally in May 2012 5 years after Patrick 's death detective McCarthy flew to Mississippi
01:48:56
where Linda and her new husband were living in a comfortable home and she had gotten a job at the
01:49:03
University you knock on the door what's her reaction her reaction was I thought the investigation was all over the
01:49:12
investigation wasn't over McCarthy arrested Linda Duffy guats for murder and everyone was in for some some
01:49:36
surprises it's been six years since Linda Duffy shot her husband to death and she thought she was going on with
01:49:43
her life with a new husband a new house a new look and a new town but now she's going on trial for murder Tuesday her
01:49:54
Freedom came to an end and Joseph low is her attorney unfortunately on this particular day she was going to play
01:50:00
with a gun again like she's done so many times before and she rapid fired it in the top of his head it's a complete
01:50:06
accident he'll argue that based partly on the words of Elmer fud no more bullets Linda thought the 38 revolver
01:50:15
was empty did you ever consider the possibility that this what we'll call A Bugs Bunny defense for lack of a better
01:50:22
term could be true 0% chance it's true Deputy district attorney Robert Villa says in 27 years
01:50:30
on the job he's never seen a defense rely even partly on a cartoon bugs is having a conversation with uh Daffy Duck
01:50:43
and Elmer fud watching a prosecutor parrot a bunny was a first for us too but an official transcript of the
01:50:51
cartoon had to be made what do you know no more bullets and then Bugs Bunny says no more
01:50:58
bullets as they're having this conversation just as she went to fanf fire the gun he laid down and put his
01:51:04
own head right in front of the of the gun so ridiculous you know and I know that strange things do happen strange
01:51:13
things happen this wasn't one of them he was asleep she shot him in the head twice it was that simple open and shut
01:51:20
for me it was but it wasn't so simp Le for the jury over two weeks they heard three recordings of Linda telling
01:51:27
authorities about cartoon rabbits and cowboy fanf firing they also heard days of testimony from dueling experts about
01:51:37
whether Linda's explanation made any sense at all it was a lot for the jury to consider it it was difficult you know
01:51:45
for every expert there's another one who can tell you a different story the defense questioned whether a prosecution
01:51:51
expert witness Paul Hower she would have been getting Jets of blood hitting her was really an expert at
01:51:58
all the jurors deliberated for a day but could not reach a verdict very few of us
01:52:05
thought the intent was there so how do you convict somebody when it could happen exactly the way she explained it
01:52:11
with a deadlock jury the judge had no choice he had to declare a mistrial so you will be discharged on this case it
01:52:21
sent a clear message that the jury wasn't willing to convict on murder were you disappointed I'm
01:52:28
always disappointed when there's no verdict because that means I have to do it again and roughly one year later with
01:52:36
Linda having remained in jail good morning everybody Villa was doing it again this time his case will be very
01:52:45
different he laid down on the couch streamlined and simple his wife came up to him put a gun
01:52:53
between 1 and seven in from his head and pulled the trigger some time went by she
01:52:58
pulled the trigger again he says the Duffy's marriage was strained and she thought she might have to take care of
01:53:05
her ailing husband she's like I'm not going to wait on this guy for the rest of his life this was a premeditated and
01:53:12
deliberate murder for his opening arguments defense attorney Joseph low brings his own sofa to present this as a
01:53:21
simple case no motive no intent no crime Pat was her best friend and she was his one of the things they
01:53:31
love to do is to watch cartoons together they're kind of goofy but there are many
01:53:38
aspects to this trial that are if you will offbeat one of you asked the clerk about how these cameras work well
01:53:46
they're only on me Judge John tibio has a reputation for lightening the atmosphere here for the jury I'm the
01:53:54
star so don't worry but things quickly get serious when the da takes them back to
01:54:00
the moment right after Linda Duffy shot her husband my husband was going to go shooting and he was again I shot him
01:54:09
it's hard to make out some of the words because she just she can't even talk the
01:54:14
didn't have any and I she sounds terrified and frantic to me she sounds like to you she sounds like
01:54:24
someone who is acting may I use the firearm to demonstrate just aim it at the jury Tracy peek tells the jury Linda had
01:54:38
to pull the trigger on this gun twice to get two bullets to fire if I do not release the trigger the
01:54:47
cylinder will not Advance the big surprise in this trial is what prosecutor Bob Villa leaves out I'd ask
01:54:55
that people's 1 through 35 be admitted into the evidence and with that I rest I arrested my case after basically 2 and
01:55:02
1/2 days unlike the first trial there is very little dense forensic testimony about blood stains and most crucially
01:55:10
your last name's Duffy he does not introduce Linda's taped interviews with police where she first discussed Bugs
01:55:18
Bunny there was no need for Bugs Bunny no need unless she took the stand Villa has thrown defense attorney Joseph low a
01:55:26
curveball since the defense isn't allowed to introduce the interrogations unless the state does first the only way
01:55:35
jurors will hear Linda Duffy's side of the story is if she takes the stand and exposes herself to
01:55:43
cross-examination were you hoping she would take the stand absolutely were you ready absolutely low begins his defense
01:55:51
with a good offense his first witness is the detective who at first did not think
01:55:58
Linda was a murderess when you're done asking your questions you allowed Mrs Duffy to go home correct talking to her
01:56:10
was very convincing to me she was eccentric and how could she harm anybody sir you would not let somebody who you
01:56:18
thought had just committed a murder go back out on the street if you had the power of arrest isn't that correct
01:56:24
relevant suain that night I liked her as the investigation went on I liked her a
01:56:29
lot less L tries to paint a sympathetic picture of Linda sir how you feeling right now little nervous by calling her
01:56:38
sons Sean and Thomas she's a very emotional caring person we were always really happy they like cartoons a lot
01:56:47
they were always making funny jokes to each other and always poked fun of each other and stuff
01:56:52
the defense has a very big decision to make will Linda take the stand herself then if she took the stand we were going
01:57:01
to hear all about Bugs Bunny Miss guad do you wish to testify no sir Linda has decided not to
01:57:09
take the stand so her lawyer worries the jury will hear nothing about fanf firing
01:57:15
and then he comes up with an idea so I'd like to refer the court and csil page five of the 911 one transcript he finds
01:57:24
a reference to it in the 911 tape prosecutors have already introduced a long time ago he showed me how to pull
01:57:31
the thing back on top of the gun and pull the trigger real fast so L is allowed to call Firearms expert Lance
01:57:39
Martini who says fan firing a double-action gun like Linda claims she did is not so far-fetched after all this
01:57:48
can be done it's not overly common but it certainly can be done sir is it humanly possible to shoot more than one
01:57:54
round in less than a second double action mode yes it is there's no way absolutely no way it happened that way
01:58:02
this was an execution these jurors never got to see any cartoons but they did see
01:58:08
one animation produced by the prosecutor it is no laughing matter it attempts to
01:58:15
answer a deadly serious question what happened to Patrick Duffy he's asleep watching
01:58:23
television the video doesn't leave much to the imagination although the defense and closing argument says it and the
01:58:31
rest of the state's case are all a fantasy she accidentally shot her husband it ain't right and it's not fair
01:58:39
to guess somebody into a conviction guess somebody into a concrete tomb as it all comes down to whether it's one
01:58:46
word or two from the jury correct guilty or not guilty jury's present Council and defendant are
01:59:04
present and you've reached a verdict or verdicts yes would you please it's been a long road now nearly 7 years since
01:59:10
Patrick Duffy died and one year after a jury deadlocked in his wife's first murder trial this time the jury comes
01:59:20
back in just over 24 hours we the jury the above entitled action find the defendant Linda dorine guads guilty of
01:59:28
the crime of second deegree murder of Patrick Albert Duffy in violation of section 187 the guilty verdict floors
01:59:38
Linda it hits her lawyer hard too for his part the prosecutor is more relieved than anything else I'm pleased uh that I
01:59:49
don't have to try it a third time you saw the way she reacted yes I've always thought she was an actress so that
01:59:58
was that was her moment honestly that's the first time I saw her really cry Patrick Duffy's sister Catherine has
02:00:05
waited years for this day she didn't get away with murdering my brother when it comes time to sentence
02:00:14
Linda 3 months later it's her last chance to address the court and she speaks I wanted to let all of you
02:00:24
know how grieved I feel most of all to Patrick and my beautiful son Sean and Thomas because you lost such a ling
02:00:37
wonderful father her sons try their best to ask for leniency if there's anything you can
02:00:44
do to to help out with my family and that's all I can ask believe she's innocent and I will till the day I die
02:00:53
Linda's second husband Larry gatz also appeals to the judge to assert that this was a premeditated purposeful act I'm
02:01:06
sorry it's unacceptable to me look at these two people beautifully in love why because she's a wonderful human
02:01:16
being who doesn't deserve this but the judge doesn't have much leeway this particular instance the law
02:01:24
mandates 40 to life my oath requires that I impose that I was like you did this to
02:01:33
yourself we found it curious that one jury could not agree on a verdict at all and a second convicted Linda in a day it
02:01:42
is ironic but in these two trials it is apparently true that in the case against
02:01:48
Linda Duffy gatz less is more if I remember correctly we sat down with jurors from both trials to see why one
02:01:56
jury quickly reached a verdict Andrew Dixon murdering the second Danielle Wong second degree murder while the other
02:02:05
never did Brandy Jones not guilty Pamela Enriquez murder in the second where's the gun 1 to 7 in remember the jury that
02:02:15
convicted Linda only heard the Bare Bones prosecution makes this impossible to happen the way she says very little
02:02:22
about fanf firing or cartoons they heard a lot more than you heard and we can only make the decision
02:02:30
based off of the evidence that we heard the jurors from both trials the ones who
02:02:36
heard the long story and the ones who heard it made short sat around our table and pondered while less may be more is
02:02:45
it enough and you're putting a woman away for the rest of her life so present everything I I think I really have to
02:02:53
agree with Brandy maybe all the evidence should be presented did you know she gave an interview to the
02:02:59
police would you have liked to I I would have loved to hear what she had to say um would that have changed my decision
02:03:08
don't know possibly if you had heard everything you think it would have affected the deliberations absolutely
02:03:15
and even though they made their decision some of the jurors who convicted Linda still have questions did it bother you
02:03:22
that they never said exactly why she did it um yeah it did how'd you get over that I'm not over it I still want to
02:03:32
know when I heard the guilty verdict I said yay Justice is finally served Julie Prendergast has no doubt the second jury
02:03:41
did the right thing by finding her former friend guilty and she wonders how Linda's life
02:03:49
which was once so happy became so tragic I'm sad for everyone involved those two boys lost their
02:04:00
father and now they're losing their mother it's a tragic story in every way you can think about it
02:04:11
[Music] [Music]