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[Music] day e in the Alec Murdock day nine of the double week three of the Alec 100
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hours of testimony this is the 14th day of trial drags into week four aling now the defense called more witnesses 22 of
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the Alec murd week six day 25 and the double murder trial of Alec Murdoch continues in col Alec Murdo is on trial
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for the double homicide of his wife Maggie and his son Paul near the dog kennels of their family's hunting State
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local media has called it the trial of the century in South Carolina it has attracted media from across the world
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their Alec mura used to be a really predominant lawyer in South Carolina and is a member of this very powerful legal
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Dynasty on the evening of June 7th 2021 his son Paul Murdoch was standing in a small feed room and some kennels they
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had on the property the defendant over there Alec Murdoch took a 12sh shotgun and shot him in the chest and the
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shoulder but after that another shot went up under his head and did catastrophic damage the lead prosecutor
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for the state is cron Waters just moments later he picked up a 300 black out AR style rifle and open fire on his
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wife Maggie powow and killed her inst Alex Murdoch's claim is that he ate dinner with his family took a nap on the
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couch he goes to visit his mother comes home just after 10 p.m. and finds his wife and child shot and killed is my
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wife copy I'm going on scene his immediate reaction was to start telling me about an incident that had happened
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with his son with a boating accident my son was in a boat wreck a few months back he's been getting threats I know
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that's what it is I'm Seth ston I'm a law professor at the University of South Carolina Paul Murdoch was on a boat with
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some other individuals there was drinking the boat crashed and one of the individuals on the boat mallerie Beach
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was killed they told you that it was just random Vigilantes from the boat case of which there is no evidence
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whatsoever they were alleging that Alec wanted to murder his wife and son because he wanted to hide the fact that
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he'd been stealing millions of dollars from his law firm and his clients for years this is a spreadsheet referencing
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each client and the amount that was stolen from each client $225,700 46 $112,500 $338,500
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[Music] fingerprints there's no forensics tying him to the crime none the prosecution
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has had one major Smoking Gun in its case and it's Paul M's video that he took at 8:44 p.m. hey he's got a bird in
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his mouth come here come here come here Cas did you recognize any voices on that
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video Paul murck Maggie murck and ell murck you recognize Alex's voice yes sir how will they explain that Alec was
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actually at the dog kennel 5 minutes before the murder when he claims to have been sleeping were you in
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fact at the kennels at 8:44 p.m. on the night Maggie and Paul were murdered I was you continued lying after that night
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did you not but once I lied I continued to lie yes sir would you ever do anything to harm
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Maggie I would never hurt Maggie I did not kill Maggie I did not kill Paul the state versus
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Richard Alexander Murdoch verdict guilty it doesn't matter how prominent you are
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if you do wrong if you break the law if you murder then Justice will be done in South Carolina
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[Music] [Music] it was a field trip to a ghost town off a country road the procession turned
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slowly up the long driveway of the imposing property this Convoy held the jury in the double murder trial of Alec
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mydal this is Moselle the hunting lodge of the murof family Alec his wife Maggie and Sons
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Paul and Buster the jury was taken to the dog kennels and the small feed room were po
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been shot at close range with a shotgun a few yards away Maggie was shot several times with a 300 Blackout rifle
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neither weapon has ever been found there was a time when this estate reflected the vast power and Prestige of
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the murall legal Dynasty now the withered ground seemed to Echo Alec mural's steep Fall From
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Grace from a rich powerful lawyer to an admitted drug addict oxycodone oxyon I stole money that was not my
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money and convicted murderer verdict guilty did you your wife what do you think of the verdict Alec the side of my
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car this is where Alec Mall's life unraveled on June 7th 2021 this is your wife and son son
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okay I knew it was really bad [Music] that night when murall was interviewed by investigators he was quick to offer
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up an explanation for the murders of his wife and son my son Paul was in a boat wreck there's been a lot of negative
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publicity about that there's been a lot of people online just really vile stuff the crash that would kill 19-year-old
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mallerie Beach happened about 2:20 a.m. on February 24th 2019 would emergency we're in a boat crash on arur
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street when a boat carrying six young friends smashed into a bridge Connor Cook made the Frantic call to 911
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there's six of us and one is missing who's missing female mallerie beat is missing she's in the water she was just
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this wonderful funloving happy girl and everybody loved her Lynn Revis and her niece mallerie were extremely close
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you always got to hug hello and a hug goodbye and the last thing she told me was she loved
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me in piecing together events investigators learned earlier that night 19-year-old Paul murall used his older
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brother Buster's ID to buy beer at this convenience store and if you look at the
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video footage when Paul comes out of the store he's holding beer up he's celebrating after staying at a party for
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several hours the group took the mdof family's boat to this bar where Paul and Connor had more to drink around 1:00
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a.m. but they went in pounded a couple of shots Michael dwit is an author and editor of the Hampton County Guardian
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part of the ganette USA Today Network somewhere around 130 see the video footage of them leaving the boat dock it
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was kind of a sad touching moment when you see mallerie and her boyfriend I think it's the last moment that anybody
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captured an image of her alive it was around5 when they took off again on the boat Paul was just driv and
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doing donuts and just passenger Miley Alman told investigators tempers were running short and so Conor starts
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driving for a little bit and then Paul like he like stops Conor and he's like no this is my boat like let me
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drive I saw the bridge coming what bridge is Paul what bridge is it First Responders dash cam video
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captured the Mayhem all right where's everybody else at the bridge at the bottom of the bridge everybody was
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crying scared shocked just worried about their friend then Buford County deputy sheriff Steven Domino was one of the
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first on the scene after Domino got mallerie's distraught boyfriend Anthony cook into his patrol
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car Paul Murdoch came into sight he was walking up from where the boat was get that right there away from me he
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actually tried to rush through me to get to Paul because I guess he saw him smiling Paul's smiling while Anthony's
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girlfriend's missing in the water right BR you smiling like sit down sit down girl
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go that's when Anthony cook definitively identified the person he said was driving the boat you all know Alec
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Murdoch I know name that's his son that's good luck that's when he indicated that he couldn't be touched
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mallerie's body was found a week later and then the weeks after that we're just waiting is someone going to
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make an arrest is there going to be a a admission of of guilt or responsibility we're in a boat crash I
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think that from day one Ground Zero the effort was what can we do to get Paul out of this
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who do you think is responsible for mallerie's death I think Paul muruk was a month after the Fatal boat crash
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frustrated that there was no arrest mallerie Beach's family filed a wrongful death suit against members of the mof
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family which allowed them to depose the survivors about what happened that night
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Paul was allegedly acting rash and Reckless in his deposition Paul's friend Connor
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Cook said that the morning of the crash he didn't tell investigators that Paul was driving the boat because he was
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afraid and while at the hospital he says he was told by Alec murall that he didn't need to tell anyone who was
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driving Alex reportedly went from room to room to try to communicate with the other boat crash passengers and get them
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all on the same page at the hospital several hours after the crash Paul's blood alcohol level was three times over
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the legal limit he was getting belligerent with the the nurses staff according to court
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records just being loud and Troublesome but that morning and for weeks to come many felt that Paul murall
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was not treated like a suspect in a crime we didn't think he was going to be charged
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why because it was taking so long we just didn't think we'd see that day nearly 2 months after the boat crash
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Paul was charged with causing the death of maler beach he pleaded not guilty and
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remained free after posting Bond and the murall name began to tarnish 2 years passed and on June 7th
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2021 as Paul murd was awaiting trial in the death of mallerie beach gunfire are erupted on the mdof
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Family Estate Mur 4147 Moos Road at 10:06 p.m. a panic sounding Alec murall called 911 saying he had just
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arrived home to find his wife of nearly 28 years Maggie and their son Paul shot is he moving at all your son I know you
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said that she was shot but what about your son nobody's they're not neither one of
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them's moving Maggie's friend Caroline price called her godson Buster when she heard
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the terrible news I said please tell me this isn't true and he said yes ma'am Miss Caroline it is and he immediately
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without prompt said it was premeditated and revenge they were trying to say that
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it was associated with the boat crash that someone was angry at Paul yeah right due to the murdoff family's close
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ties with local law enforcement the South Carolina law enforcement division known as sled the state's top
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investigative agency took over the case I was amazing to me how quick this rumor
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mill started Maggie's friend Shelly West heard about the murders from a friend I
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just said do you think ell did it and he said no there were two guns on the scene
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but it actually crossed your mind that he might have done it yeah I mean yeah I mean that was my first initial reaction
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a lot of times the husband's the first suspect and Caroline says she had a strange conversation with him after
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Maggie and Paul's Funeral he talked a lot about Paul the fact that he wasn't going to get his day in court he wasn't
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going to get to clear his name Murda offered a $100,000 reward as rumors and speculations swirled reports
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at the time raised questions about their marriage and claimed that Maggie was Consulting with a divorce attorney Maran
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her sister asked me do do you know anything about this and I said no and she said she never said anything to me
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and she tells me everything Maggie never mentioned there was any trouble in the marriage at a hearing a few months later
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I questioned the murof family attorney dick harutan about the MD's relationship were there any problems in Maggie and
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Alex's marriage absolutely none none and I I'm trust me I was with them for almost 2 years always affectionate
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always courteous just the picture of a domestic voice and as for the theory that the murders were in
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retaliation for the boat crash Maggie's friends say she never mentioned any threats against their family she talked
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about how unkind everybody was and mean the looks and the snares and they didn't
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seem to feel unsafe I mean they were still carrying on with their normal routine day-to-day activities and
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things as investigators tried to figure out who would want Paul and Maggie Mur dead and why A call came into 911 that
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another member of the family was under attack somebody stopped to help me and they tried to shoot
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me and it's almost been a case of episodic television where tune in this week and we'll see what's next from
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Hampton County home with the murdocks [Music] three months after the shooting deaths
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of Maggie and Paul Alec murall again called 911 this time claiming he'd been shot somebody stopped to help me and
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they tried to shoot me Alex Murdoch told investigators he was changing a flat tire right here on this Rural Road when
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a person in a pickup truck passed by asked Alex if he was having car trouble and then shot him in the head bda's
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conversation on the way to the hospital was captured on police body Cam know kind of was I don't know what kind of
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gun it was but it sounded like a shotgun on September 6th 2021 2 days after being shot Alec murall released
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this statement I have made a lot of decisions that I truly regret he said and announced he was leaving the law
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firm Alex Murdoch put out a statement saying he's going into rehab Alex murd said he had been addicted to opioids for
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two decades it wasn't only claims of drug abuse now staining mural's reputation he was also accused of
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stealing Millions from his own law firm and was asked to resign the day before he was shot Friday the law firm has a
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come to Jesus meeting with him we know you're allegedly stealing money you're out Saturday the reported
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shooting Monday Alex releases is a statement saying I'm going into rehab then came the even more bizarre
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news that myrdle had allegedly hired this man his distant cousin Curtis Smith to shoot him he wanted you to kill him
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yeah he wanted me to kill him authorities say murall wanted his killing to look like murder so his
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surviving son Buster could collect a $10 million life insurance payout Smith says
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he refused yeah a happen it's unclear exactly how murdog came to be shot why did you leave
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the scene I didn't know anything else do Smith was charged in connection with the
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shooting but has not entered a plea on September 16th 2021 facing charges of insurance fraud conspiracy and filing a
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false police report Alec murall turned himself in the fact that a Murdoch sat in a chair in a jumpsuit with handcuffs
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is something I've never seen in my lifetime Alec murall was released on Bond and
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allowed to go back to rehab while murall was there investigators were looking into all of his business
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dealings and the suspicious death of this woman Gloria saterfield Gloria was the housekeeper for the murall family
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for more than 20 years Ronnie RoR is an attorney for the saterfield family she literally helped raise Alec mural's Sons
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Paul and Buster in 2018 18 the 57-year-old died after a fall at the myll estate what's been reported is that
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she was at the house at day on the front steps the dogs got a little rambunctious
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and gave her a push and she fell down the stairs sder Field's death was ruled natural and no autopsy was ever
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performed there's nothing natural about a 57-year-old woman falling down a flight of steps and dying from head
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trauma at Gloria's funeral myll did something very odd says Rick he recommended Gloria's Sons file a
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wrongful death lawsuit against him mdll even steered them toward an attorney his
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friend Corey Fleming a lot of trust was placed in both Alec and in Corey to do the right things and it really went
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South from the outset court documents show a $4.3 million payout by mural's insurance company but none of the money
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ever went to Gloria's family where did that money go well allegedly it went into Alex
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murdo's pocket Alex Murdo was charged with two felonies for his role in The Glorious saterfield insurance fraud this
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time a judge ordered him to be held without bond as murd sat in jail he was indicted
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on dozens more charges for defrauding clients out of millions of dollars and then in July of 2022 more
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than a year after the grizzly murders disgrace South Carolina attorney Alex murall was indicted today in the
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high-profile murders of his wife and son last year Alec murall was charged with killing his wife Maggie and Son Paul
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Maggie's friends were relieved that the case was moving forward I was kind of like pH yeah finally and maybe we're
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going to get some answers Alex Vera why did you kill your wife in your on January 25th 2023 19 months
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after Maggie and Paul were gunned down near the dog kennels at their family hunting estate that the defendant Alec
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Murdoch over there told anyone who would listen that he was never at those kennels prosecutor Katon Waters began
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laying out the state's case against Alec murall but the evidence is also going to
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show from these things that every one of us most of us carry around in our pocket that he was there he was at the
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murder scene with the two victims I could see Mr murall down at the end of the driveway Central 717 seen has secure
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both gunshot wounds to the Head First Responders described the harrowing scene captured by their body cams the male
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victim was close to a small shed in the dog kennel on on the left it was a large
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deal of blood that had pulled around his body turn around for me I don't have anything okay yes sir I see that okay
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this is your wife and son and son this is official that there dead yes sir that's what it looks
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like investigators interviewed mdll in a patrol car my my boy over there I could
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see it was myall said he spent time with Paul earlier in the evening riding around the
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property after Maggie got home he dozed off on the couch and when he got up there was nobody around I called
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Maggie didn't get an answer Maggie's a dog lover and I knew she'd gone to the kennel I left to go to my mom's my mom's
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a late stage Alzheimer's patient his visit with his ill mother would become his Alibi mdll told him investigators
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when he returned around 10 p.m. there was still no one home so he drove down to the dog kennels that's when he found
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Maggie and Paul I tried to turn Paul over first then I went to my wife and I I mean I could see
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mhm I touched them both okay I tried to take their pts on both of them mhm when you first saw Paul you said you tried to
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Rutland interviewed Alec myall that night and told the jurors she noted despite his claim of touching the blood
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soaked bodies of his wife and son he appeared clean how would you describe the defendant's hands when you saw them
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they were clean how would you describe his T-shirt clean did those clothes appear to be fresh they did like they
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just come out of the laundry it could be Maggie and Paul died from multiple gunshot wounds Daily Beast senior
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National reporter polar Melendez shared the investigator's findings so Paul was shot first and he was shot twice with a
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shotgun Paul was found here next to the feeding room very close by right here is
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where Magie was found Maggie was killed with a 300 Blackout rifle and suffered five gunshot
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wounds a crime scene specialist described her final moments the shooter was right here the second shot was not
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as close but it still wasn't a long distance it was approximately here into the crown of the
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head 3 days after the murders building their timeline investigators talked to Alec murall again we sat down we ate
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supper and we hung around the house for a little while uh I know that Maggie went to the kennels um I don't know
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exactly where Paul went but he left the house too I stayed in the house and I actually fell asleep on the couch the
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last time that you saw Paul and Maggie's when y'all were eating supper yes sir the mylls were Avid hunters and had
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more than 25 weapons on the property I saw one over here during a search there's one to your right sled agents
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found spent shell casings yeah 300 y yeah and ammunition that matched the bullets that killed Maggie and Paul but
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the murder weapons were never found Maggie's cell phone was also missing the day after the murders investigators
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found it here on the side of the road half a mile from the property sled analyzed the data from Alex Maggie and
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Paul's cell phones at 7:56 p.m. Paul sent this Snapchat video of his dad to a friend
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Paul is heard laughing in the background better than it was so around 8:30 Paul's
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phone starts moving towards the dog kennels he also is calling and texting two friends then responding to Snapchats
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until about 8:40 when he gets on a 4minute phone call with his friend Rogan Gibson Rogan Gibson told investigators
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their phone call was about his dog who was staying at the kennels Rogan thought he heard Alec in the background that
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immediately sets a red flag for law enforcement because that totally messed is up Alex timeline and how could he be
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at the dog HS at 8:40 when he claims he was sleeping responding MO two months after the murders agents interviewed
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Alec murall again this time at a sled office they asked him if he went down to the kennels that night I've got
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information that you were hurt in the background was it you no sir not if my times are right who you think it could
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have been I have no idea in November of 2022 there was a breakthrough in the investigation get that get agent showed
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Rogan a video of his dog cash that they had found on Paul's phone Paul had shot it at 8:44 p.m. minutes before he was
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killed it's a guinea it's a chicken come here B come here and what voices did you hear Paul's Miss Maggie
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Mr ell and how sure are you now positive 100% that's correct the prosecutor says Alec is heard saying
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come here Bubba calling the family dog come here Bubba come here this is a huge piece of testimony because it places ell
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in the kennels roughly 5 minutes before prosecutors say Maggie and Paul were murdered authorities believed Maggie and
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Paul were shot around 8:49 p.m. when their phone screens were locked and never opened again the prosecutor asked
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several other Witnesses if they recog recognized Mall's Voice come on that video and I recognize ell M who do you
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recognize Alec did you recognize on that video Alex mle and every single witness
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has said with 100% certainty that that's Alec in the background of that video and
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it also completely shatters his Alibi Alec Mall's car and cell phone data showed he drove to his mom's house
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shortly after 9900 p.m. between then and until he returned and dialed 911 at 10:06 p.m. he made 10 calls to family
00:29:03
and friends including five to Maggie prosecutors basically alleged that after killing Paul Maggie El took steps to
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cover up and show that he is talking all these people so how could he murder his
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his wife and son as to the motive the state had a theory that a perfect storm was
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gathering for Alec myall Alec was scared about information coming out that he had
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been stealing money from his clients in his Law Firm for years on the day of the murders murall
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was confronted by his firm about missing legal fees of almost $800,000 also that week he was due in
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court for a hearing on the boat crash civil case murall was being sued for $10 million by mallerie Beach's family the
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prosecution is alleging that in order to dissuade for further questions about his
00:29:58
financial crimes and Garner sympathy from the community and his Law Firm he killed his wife and son it's the actions
00:30:06
of a desperate man the state were called Genie seconder after the judge ruled mural's alleged
00:30:13
Financial schemes could be brought in the state called The Firm CFO jeie seinger was anybody at all concerned
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about those missing fees after those murders happened we weren't because we were concerned about La we weren't going
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to go in there and harass him about money when his family had been killed uh Mr Tenley the beach family's attorney Mark
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Tinsley also testified and told the jurors in the wake of the murders the civil case against Alec murall would
00:30:45
have gone away if elec is the victim of a vigilante nobody's going to hold him accountable the case would be over as
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the state rested its case murall made the risky decision to take the stand you lied to Maggie didn't
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you I did Li to [Music] Maggie also have you made a decision as to whether you're going to testify I am
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going to testify I want to testify against his attorney's advice Alec murall decided to take the stand in his
00:31:35
own defense you swear or affirm that the testimony you give today will be the truth the whole truth and nothing but
00:31:41
the truth yes ma'am under questioning by attorney Jim Griffin mdll is hoping the
00:31:46
jury will look past his lies and believe that now he's telling them the truth did
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you kill Maggie no I did not kill Maggie I did not kill Paul I would never hurt Maggie
00:32:01
and I would never hurt Paul ever under any circumstances after all the testimony
00:32:08
identifying him on that kennel video murall is forced to admit he was with his wife and son minutes before
00:32:17
prosecutors say they were gunned down were you in fact at the kennels at 8:44 p.m. on the night Maggie and Paul were
00:32:24
murdered I was come here B come here Cas come here B yes did you continue lying after that night did you not but once I
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lied I continued to lie yes sir why oh what a tangled web we weave but once I told the
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lie I mean I told my family I had to keep lying I went to murdog claims he'd been
00:32:51
compelled to lie because of an opioid addiction he battled for 20 years spending tens of thousands of a week and
00:32:59
taking up to 60 or more pills per day as my addiction evolved over time I would get in these situations or
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circumstances where I would get paranoid thinking but he dismisses the prosecution's theory of mounting
00:33:18
pressure from his addiction and alleged Financial crimes leading up to the murders Mr murck on June the 7th did you
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believe that your financial house of cards was about to crumble absolutely not Mr Mur let's start with a few things
00:33:32
I think we can agree during a 6-hour cross-examination over two days prosecutor kraton Waters grills murd and
00:33:39
you stole all of the money didn't you about his long history of lying to his financial victims and Mr Waters just to
00:33:47
try to get through this quicker I admit I know you want to get through it quicker but we're not so answer the
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question please what what what I what I admit is that I misled them I did did wrong and that I stole their money
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Waters contends it was only because he'd been caught in his lie about being at the kennels that mdof finally came clean
00:34:08
the reality is you like you've done so many times over the course of your life had to back up and make a new story that
00:34:14
counterfeit with the facts that can't be denied isn't that true sir no sir that's
00:34:19
not true Waters then tries to box him into his new timeline on the night of the murders zeroing in on 4 minutes
00:34:27
between 9:02 and 9:06 when his phone logged 283 steps right before he left to visit his mom that's far more steps in a
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shorter time period than than any time prior as you've seen from the testimony in this case so what what were you so
00:34:43
busy doing going to the bathroom no I don't I don't think that I get on a treadmill to the bathroom no I didn't
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get on a treadmill joging place no I didn't jog Jacks no sir I did not do jumping jacks Mall reasserts his theory
00:34:58
of the murders that I believe that boat wreck is the reason why Paul Paul and Maggie were killed cuz I can tell you
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for a fact that the person or people who did what I saw on June the 7th they hated Paul murck and they had anger in
00:35:23
their heart throughout the trial the defense makes the case that that Alec murall was
00:35:28
a devoted family man his son Buster describes a dad who' coached his little league teams and was now stricken with
00:35:35
grief you mean he was destroyed he was heartbroken I walked in the door and saw him and um gave him a hug and
00:35:45
just just broken down defense calls Tim palmbach to the stand please the defense
00:35:51
calls a crime scene analyst who based on blood spatter position of shots fired and the fact that two different guns
00:35:58
were used says there was more than one shooter my opinion is the totality of the evidence is more suggestive of a
00:36:05
two- shooter scenario the prosecution disagrees him this is Alec the prosecutor the lawyer and he's thinking
00:36:11
through this he's thought through this he's going to use two guns because it's going to confuse people that perhaps
00:36:17
there were two Shooters but in his closing to the jury Waters argues that all the evidence points to Alec murall
00:36:24
call at siing from that first shot at close range with no indication that he detected a
00:36:30
threat from the person who fired that weapon and why cuz it was him Maggie sees what happens and she comes running
00:36:36
over there she's running to her baby she got mowed down by the only person that we have conclusive proof was
00:36:47
at that scene just minutes before and who would lied about that very fact and he describes how murdog
00:36:55
could have cleaned up at the Kennels afterwards wouldn't take long to strip down and was yourself
00:37:04
off getting that cart and head back to the house here we are with a Mr Clean theory he takes a hose and washes
00:37:15
himself off and gets in a golf cart butt naked I guess and drives to the house defense attorney Jim Griffin pushes back
00:37:24
on the prosecution's theory he would have to be a magician to make all that evidence disappear the shooter's covered
00:37:31
in blood the Shooter's Gun is covered in blood Common Sense thing here is there were two Shooters instead said Griffin
00:37:40
investigator zeroed in on mural to the exclusion of other suspects because he was an easy target longtime drug problem
00:37:50
there Financial issues misconduct were exposed easy easy easy Target for sled the evidence is Crystal
00:38:01
Clear they started fabricating evidence against Ellen Griffin tells the jury sled also presented false evidence to
00:38:09
the grand jury when seeking an indictment against murall they came up with a report that says Alex
00:38:17
t-shir had high velocity blood spatter on the Lead Sled agent testified he had not received an email update that
00:38:25
further testing had shown there was no blood I did not see that report I was not made aware of its existence sled
00:38:33
failed miserably in investigating this case and had they done a competent job that Alec would have been excluded year
00:38:43
ago then he addresses the single most problematic piece of evidence for the defense really we're back to the Lae cuz
00:38:52
that's all they have in this case he lied because he had a closet full of skeletons but what he didn't lie Li what
00:38:58
he didn't lie for is because he was covering up the fact that he killed Maggie and Paul Alec would not have
00:39:05
killed the people he loved the most in the world this defendant has fooled everyone
00:39:14
everyone and he fooled Maggie and Paul too and they paid for it with their lives don't let him fool you too
00:39:29
after hearing from 75 Witnesses in more than 5 weeks the jury deliberates for just under three hours before returning
00:39:36
with a verdict toate versus Richard Alexander murd def murall is found guilty of murdering his wife and son
00:39:44
guilty verdict we understand there is a verdict in the double murder trial at sentencing the next day judge Clifton
00:39:52
Newman gives murall one last chance to appeal to the court I respect this for but I'm innocent unmoved judge Newman
00:40:01
sentences him to two consecutive life terms in prison and I know you have to see Paul and Maggie during the night
00:40:09
time when you're attempting to go to sleep I'm sure they come and visit you I can't stop thinking about the fact
00:40:17
that it is a video on Paul's own phone that really was critical in this case well I think it is
00:40:25
ironic the murder case the victims can't testify um but in many ways they do often times they leave something
00:40:33
behind that lets you know what happened to him and in this case it was Paul's video come here come here Cas come here
00:40:41
Cas it's Paul testifying from the [Music] grave 48 hours to miss it would be a crime were you at all prepared for what
00:40:57
happened in this case [Music] today is February 13th 2018 uh we are currently at the Stan
00:41:53
County Sheriff's Office conference room uh present is Carrie n Ridder and also her attorney uh the time now is 10:58
00:42:05
a.m. at what point do your dad first approach you with this plan um it was him and I we were home he was saying
00:42:13
like that he was going to kill himself but he brought up that he was that there was this other option kind of thing um
00:42:21
where he would he wanted to kill my mom first bite oh Carrie don't push the bib up
00:42:32
Carrie is doing a good job the story in my eyes is about Lloyd and Michelle and there's the door and there's my husband
00:42:41
he was such an attent of [Laughter] Father wow I thought he was a really amazing person he's very charismatic
00:42:54
shows a lot of care is too cold to be happy Michelle is truly a brilliant [Music]
00:43:04
person she's got a wonderful sense of humor and this great wit what's your favorite toy outside Carrie my your baby
00:43:13
swing my first impression was that they were sort of like a very perfect ideal family and they were really good at
00:43:21
putting up that front but over time I sort that perception sort of started to change
00:43:29
I was Michelle's lawyer her husband had filed for divorce Michelle was surprised that he
00:43:35
filed for divorce she was a stay-at-home mom she had done everything she thought
00:43:39
she could do to make him and the family happy Carrie was at RIT she was set to graduate in another year she says a dad
00:43:48
came to her I can't afford to pay the bills I can't afford to pay your mother there's no way out I have to kill myself
00:43:57
I'm sorry you guys have to go on without me or I got Plan B [Music] here killing my
00:44:08
mom it's he made you choose i1 Center had something strange happening at a uh at a friend's house I
00:44:20
thought I saw the mother standing in the stairway but she's emotionless and I could see through the stairs and
00:44:28
see that somebody was clearly at the bottom of the stairs and they looked like they needed some sort of
00:44:38
help did you ever think this case would go the way it did no 993 for an update we're out with a male subject on the top
00:44:46
floor of the Spring Street Garage is he's on the ledge do you have live video of this up
00:44:52
there we just don't have cases like this with where this level of pervasive evil
00:44:57
trickle through an entire life and then ends in such a horrific event [Music] [Music]
00:45:53
[Music] we're out with a male subject on the top floor of the Spring Street Garage on a cold January Day in
00:46:10
2018 45-year-old Lloyd n rider was surrounded by local and State Police he's on a Ledge on the fifth Story of a
00:46:19
parking garage in Princeton New Jersey threatening jump it wasn't supposed to end this
00:46:25
way almost 30 years earlier in 1989 16-year-old Lloyd had fallen for an older classmate Michelle lundie they
00:46:37
were going to the same high school and she was graduating and we told her she could invite friends and uh she invited
00:46:45
Lloyd Michelle's Mother jeie remembers how quickly the relationship developed how did she feel about him oh
00:46:54
she was falling in love I pronounce you husband and wife two years later in 1991 Michelle and Lloyd tied the
00:47:06
knot the newlyweds headed off to college be lovey Dy now no Michelle gave birth to a daughter and 2 years later a second
00:47:16
child Carrie who's that it's my sister Carrie well hi Carrie the family settled in the upstate
00:47:26
New York Community community of Corning suben County district attorney Brooks Baker it's kind of place where a lot of
00:47:33
folks still don't lock their doors Corning is a quaint Family Place best known as the headquarters of
00:47:41
Fortune 500 company Corning Glass Lloyd worked there as an engineer hi Mama hi Michelle gave birth to a third
00:47:52
daughter and she homeschooled the kids I'm making a movie of you you are I'm afraid I'm not being very interesting
00:48:00
right now later she would teach at a local college she was an English Professor when I met her so she was big
00:48:09
on reading and writing and she would always really encourage her girls to be well spoken and
00:48:16
educated Mina Raj met the N riter's middle daughter Carrie in ballet class hi my name is Carrie and my dad is p and
00:48:28
the two quickly bonded all of our dance families were very close her mother Cynthia would become one of Michelle's
00:48:35
closest friends when's the very first time you met Michelle I met Lloyd first because he would bring the children to
00:48:43
class dance classes he would do their hair and the mothers were rather smitten with him but as cia's daughter Mina
00:48:52
spent more time with Carrie she became concerned about Lloyd's overbearing parenting style there were times when
00:49:00
I'd call my mom and tell her that I was worried about how strict of a disciplinarian he was for really really
00:49:08
small things it was sort of like you never knew when he would snap and if he decided he was mad at one of them he
00:49:16
would call them over yell front and center have them drop to their knees in front of everyone the first time I
00:49:23
witnessed that Carrie was very close to me and I could see physically see her body shaking I've seen him slap them
00:49:31
slap cross the on the face yeah would he do things to Michelle he would put her down with a smile in his face and then
00:49:40
around Thanksgiving 2007 Michelle suddenly cut ties with her parents her mother believed Lloyd was
00:49:49
behind the rift what do you think happened I think that he threatened her either to harm the children or
00:49:57
to harm her or to harm her she said Cynthia it was Lloyd that made me cut off contact with him he didn't want her
00:50:05
to have a place to go if she wanted to leave but it turned out to be Lloyd who left the following year in 2008 he took
00:50:15
a new job in New Jersey leaving Michelle and the kids behind in Corning once he was gone Michelle seemed like a
00:50:23
different person better better she seemed much more relaxed and in 2013 after the couple had divorce
00:50:33
Michelle moved into this new house with the girls and that's when the real trouble began Lloyd wanted so custody of
00:50:43
the children Lloyd was relentless in using the legal system to harass Michelle it just never ended
00:50:52
Michelle's divorce attorney Susan beter there were 26 separate sets of filings post divorce and how unusual is
00:51:00
that that is super unusual if you have two or three it's a lot to have 26 is astounding and what was he suing for
00:51:08
what were these filings for he he continually filed things making false claims against Michelle Lloyd was trying
00:51:16
to get out of child support and Michelle accused Lloyd of trying to turn the kids
00:51:22
against her the oldest daughter was already living with with Lloyd and Carrie had gone off to college but Lloyd
00:51:31
continued to fight for custody of their youngest child them 14 years old we agreed not to show recent pictures of
00:51:39
her I think anybody who worked in the courthouse had heard about the nrer case this husband and wife were going at it
00:51:46
non-stop so this is one of those cases that everybody sort of heard about or talked about over the water cooler or at
00:51:52
a bar outing the name came up it was one of those cases that just didn't go way but in late August
00:52:00
2017 Lloyd did something unusual Susan got this text from Michelle and she says I'm in shock Lloyd did not show up for
00:52:09
the appearance for his petition for soul custody he did not withdraw he did not ask for an adjournment he did not answer
00:52:15
the Court's phone calls or emails nothing how unusual is that for him knowing how many of these filings he's
00:52:22
made it was very unusual it was very unusual um it was Unthinkable really because of Lloyd's noow the case was
00:52:29
dismissed Michelle seemed relieved and happy it was summer and she had a mutual friend of ours and the children um
00:52:38
sliding on Big Blocks of ice down a hill of [Music] grass two days later Monday August 28th
00:52:52
2017 a family friend came to pick up the N Riders 14 yold for swim practice instantly he knew something was very
00:53:02
wrong I I want C that's something strange happening at a uh at our friend's house Corning police Sergeant John mcdot
00:53:13
was the first to respond to Michelle's house that afternoon all right so tell me what you
00:53:19
did so I walked up to the front door here and through these three panes of glass I could see inside and I could see
00:53:26
a female now laying at the bottom of the stairs open the door a dog came running
00:53:31
out I came running in and as I got closer I could see there was a rope around her neck there was no pulse she
00:53:38
was cold and stiff to the [Music] touch here he found 46-year-old Michelle NY Ridder
00:53:48
dead so your first thought when you saw was what it appears to be a suicide by hanging
00:53:55
[Music] but Corning police chief Jeff spaling wasn't so sure cuz you couldn't figure
00:54:07
out how she got a Mark here no I didn't I didn't like that that was unsettling it appeared as though somebody had gone
00:54:15
behind and thrown a rope over the neck and pulled back and down and caused that what's more Michelle's youngest child
00:54:23
the 14-year-old at the heart of the custody battle and who was supposed to be picked up for swim practice was
00:54:31
nowhere to be found obviously the number of possible outcomes there that are bad
00:54:37
is is tremendous [Music] I said if we checked basement if we checked attics if we checked
00:55:05
garages in the hours after police arrived at Michelle NY ridder's home a frantic search was
00:55:13
on Lieutenant Jeff hly couldn't find her 14-year-old daughter anywhere she should
00:55:20
have been around I knew that she resided with Mom later that day he got a phone call
00:55:27
this is Lieutenant hly can I help you hi um my name is Carrie it was 19-year-old Carrie n rider
00:55:36
Michelle's middle child my friends called me earlier today and told me about my mom um and that
00:55:45
she um I'm sorry that's okay told me my mom Carrie told the officer that her younger sister was safe
00:55:57
and still with you now yeah she's in my apartment she was nearly 100 miles away with Carrie in Rochester New
00:56:08
York Carrie then told heavily how it happened she had driven back to Corning late Saturday night to spend one last
00:56:17
night in her bedroom at home when I got there my mom started freaking out and she she would freak out
00:56:27
a lot Carrie said her mother raged at her accusing her of taking her father's side in their family court battles so
00:56:35
she started freaking out and screaming and she woke up and was afraid and she went to her room and she was yelling
00:56:43
Carrie says she decided to leave taking her younger sister with her she claimed that she was concerned for her younger
00:56:52
sister so she had taken her outside put her in the car and and then uh had driven her to Rochester while police
00:56:59
were relieved that Michelle's youngest was safe car's story didn't really make sense why would Michelle be so upset on
00:57:10
the same day she had been celebrating her Court Victory those who knew Michelle best couldn't believe she'd
00:57:18
take her own life I never believed it she was determined to have a successful life and she did she had a great job and
00:57:26
it was not the place in her life where she would have committed suicide after all of the really difficult years she
00:57:32
had been through while it appeared Michelle had hanged herself there was that odd
00:57:39
ligature mark on her chin as police awaited the results of the autopsy I thought we would get some
00:57:47
some definite results they would say oh yeah 100% this is a homicide or yeah 100% this is a
00:57:53
suicide but the medical examiner conclusion surprised them they tell us undecided undetermined
00:58:02
causation Michelle's mother didn't need an autopsy to tell her what happened I did not believe she killed herself she
00:58:12
immediately thought murder and one name came to mind I'm thinking it's more than
00:58:19
likely Lloyd killed her but I couldn't figure out how because he had an alibi Lloyd n writer was in fact more
00:58:27
than 2500 M away in California for a job interview when police discovered Michelle's body how long has he been in
00:58:36
California um since yesterday Carrie told investigators all about it was he in Corning at all yesterday no he helped
00:58:45
move me in to my apartment on Saturday okay but he wasn't in Corning even if Lloyd wasn't in Corning
00:58:55
he had been close about 100 miles away so all of a sudden he's only an hour and change away up in
00:59:04
Rochester Carrie says that after her father helped her move in to a Rochester apartment on Saturday he spent the night
00:59:12
in a hotel and flew out to California the next day he was still there when the family notified him of Michelle's death
00:59:21
he flew back east and within 36 hours showed up at the to Ben County Family Court he came to turn off his child
00:59:30
support and maintenance payments that's the first place he went when he had heard his ex-wife had committed suicide
00:59:35
that's correct right there police caught up with him outside the courthouse investigator V hey how
00:59:44
are you good just cautious about how I approach a car I don't want to startle anybody and he sit down the
00:59:48
investigator's car and he do a video taped interview and have a long conversation did Michelle know she's
00:59:52
coming or she did yes I was l calmly Echoes car's story in the hours before Michelle's death he was in Rochester
01:00:03
helping Carrie move into her College apartment I go check in at the micel Lloyd says he checked into that hotel
01:00:10
Saturday hotel security cameras back him up Carrie came over for a while dark parking lot video then shows both he and
01:00:20
Carrie heading to her car I walked her out to the car then when you go back to the hotel right yeah I invited her to
01:00:28
breakfast the next morning and at 700 a.m. the next morning cameras show Carrie arriving for
01:00:36
breakfast now with her 14-year-old sister in tow and you also then checked his phone where was his phone during
01:00:43
that time checked his phone it kind of cooperated what uh what Cara told us that Dad stayed at the
01:00:50
hotel but the hotel video tells a different story when llo walk Carri to her car that night he could be seen
01:00:59
getting in the car with her and then driving off and the video doesn't show him coming back that night
01:01:09
so while Lloyd's phone was in the hotel room all night where was Lloyd investigators had
01:01:17
to wonder especially when they looked at the hotel video from the next morning we
01:01:23
don't see Lloyd All Night Long here it is 6:30 in the morning and here he comes on to the camera he's walking across the
01:01:29
parking lot and he's walking to his his vehicle he's still appears to be wearing
01:01:34
the same clothes that he had on the night before Lloyd's story was that he stayed at the hotel room all night the
01:01:39
video evidence is saying no he didn't police were now certain Lloyd was lying to them they dug deeper looking
01:01:50
for a motive he was not in a good Financial Place Lloyd had over $100,000 in credit
01:01:56
C Deb and he was paying his ex-wife almost $6,000 a month Baker says that after Michelle's death Lloyd tried to
01:02:03
collect on Michelle's life insurance for a payout of $260,000 they suspected Lloyd killed
01:02:12
Michelle and Carrie might be covering for him so we decided to go up on a wire tap on on Loyd's phone and car's phone
01:02:21
I'm freaking out me too almost two and a half months after Michelle's out police
01:02:27
began listening in oh I don't know what to do I don't know what to do I don't know what to
01:02:47
[Music] do H hi sweetie how's your drive so far oh it's fine very good in Fall 2017 a little over 2 months after
01:03:01
Michelle NY ridder's death Corning police began listening in on Lloyd and Carrie NY ridder's phone
01:03:09
calls well we didn't go up on the wire until mid November this had happened at the end of August beginning of September
01:03:15
so it had been you know two months and there wasn't a lot that was being said so in order to uh you know kind of
01:03:22
refresh things we did what was called tickle The Wire tickle the wire it's a ruse familiar to
01:03:29
Cops working drug cases an investigator calls carry saying they have more questions Corning police chief Jeff
01:03:38
Spalding played the recording for us hi is this caror yes this is okay this is investigator vul with coring PD um the
01:03:48
reason I was calling uh but I didn't know if you were going to be around if uh you had time to meet up with me or
01:03:55
what time you might have to stop in to see me I should be able to meet with you Monday if you're available okay after
01:04:02
hanging up with police Carrie quickly called her father just like we hope the next phone call is to Lloyd saying what
01:04:09
what do I do what exactly did you tell him I don't know and Lloyd says Ah it's probably just for it's just form him
01:04:17
don't worry about it but then he says and this is where we sort of puts our doubts aside he says well I don't think
01:04:22
I want you talking to him tell him about I'm sorry I got I got a counseling appointment back in New
01:04:29
Jersey tonight I'm tell him this has been really hard on me yeah could you cry I
01:04:38
might God it would be nice if then it was just over that would be a dream why lie exactly why not just go
01:04:47
sit down with the investigator spend 20 minutes and and and and tell the same story you already have well it was
01:04:53
anything more serious I guess you have people coming after me anyways right yeah he wouldn't ask you to come walk in
01:04:59
the front door he'd say I have a warrant yeah so I can't be that police are clearly suspicious but
01:05:09
with that undetermined official autopsy holding the case back the da asked a private forensic pathologist to take a
01:05:17
new look and confirm finally whether Michelle was murdered we take all the pictures from
01:05:24
the autopsy we take all the ings the documentation of evidence and we go and sit down with him there was no body for
01:05:30
him to examine because Lloyd had Michelle's remains cremated but the pathologist saw that
01:05:37
rope mark on Michelle's chin and peul hemorrhaging in her eyes and then he leaps through a few more things kind of
01:05:44
the way doctors do and in silence and and says this is a homicide Michelle NY rider was strangled
01:05:53
to death police headed out to confront Lloyd and Carrie I mean at that point you're
01:05:59
thinking Lloyd's the ring leader no no question do you think that if in fact Carrie n Ridder was involved she was
01:06:07
going to be the weak link I thought that she she would be the weak link you put her in an interview room without dad
01:06:13
without her cell phone um and you do a hard interview with her I thought she would be the first to give on January
01:06:19
24th 2018 5 months after Michelle's death two investig Ator showed up at Lloyd's
01:06:27
office in New Jersey at the same time a pair of State Police Troopers find Carrie at her
01:06:34
College internship in Syracuse New York was this your Hail Mary pass was this it
01:06:41
yeah that's that's what we considered game day investigators break the news to Lloyd and and they say Lloyd look we got
01:06:48
to tell you something the medical exam has ruled this homicide were you down there that night
01:06:56
no Rochester and so that night you were in your hotel room all night okay and they suggested that Chief lloy maybe you
01:07:03
want to take a lie detector test and to my surprise he he said sure So they gave
01:07:08
him directions to a police station down in New Jersey where we had a polygraph operator that was already on call Lloyd
01:07:15
appeared confident in his innocence 200 miles away in Syracuse Carrie was anything but Carrie cracks
01:07:24
Carri cracks my dad came down with me Saturday night there it was in barely a whisper on a police audio recording
01:07:35
Carrie admits her father went to her mother's house with her that night and she helped him get in
01:07:43
undetected you walk in the front door of the house you you tell me at this point
01:07:50
where was mom she was at the top of the stairs so she saw my dad come in and then they started arguing so he
01:08:00
went upstairs and they were arguing in her in her room Carrie said her mother stopped yelling and it suddenly got very
01:08:08
quiet at first she tells police she didn't know why but then she admits you saw didn't know you didn't
01:08:28
[Music] just you saw was you still alive it was one of those holy cow moments uh it was like wow you
01:08:42
investigators then took Carrie to a police station they wanted the whole story on
01:08:48
video she says her father came to her a week before the Murder She says a dad came to her and
01:08:56
says I can't afford to pay your mother there's no way out Lloyd gave Carrie an unfathomable ultimatum and so basically
01:09:05
he was going to kill himself um or there was this way may he wouldn't kill himself he was killing my
01:09:18
mom she says Lloyd laid out his plan they would make it look like a suicide I just put a her M
01:09:32
quiet and put the r on her neck and Carrie said she stayed downstairs watching over her younger sister asleep
01:09:44
in the living room and my dad went upstairs into my mom's room and she was like what are you
01:09:53
doing Bole why are you here and so she was young and she was like why why the commotion woke up car's sister
01:10:05
yeah she woke up so I had to take her out there I was freaking out I didn't know what's going on I oh my
01:10:13
God put in my car when Lloyd was finished he sneaked out the back of the house around the
01:10:22
side and then climbed into the open rear hatch of car's car according to Carrie her 14-year-old sister never knew her
01:10:32
father was there close to police were now ready to arrest Lloyd the only problem he never showed up for
01:10:48
that polygraph test he had disappeared they lost him and they did they did lose him but Lloyd still had
01:10:56
his phone and we still were up on the wire on Lloyd's phone we knew that his phone was in downtown Princeton
01:11:02
somewhere they managed to trace it to a municipal parking structure and there on
01:11:08
the roof was Lloyd NY Ridder when the officers moved in to confront Lloyd and to to pick him up he bolted and hopped
01:11:18
up on the rail and threatened to jump off the fivestory parking garage to commit
01:11:24
suicide for 2 hours Lloyd NY Rider kept police at Bay when he turned his back they made
01:11:44
their move this New Jersey state trooper who who played football somewhere uh he
01:11:50
makes a a 10 yard Sprint and just flattens him tackles him Del 223 one in custody one in custody lyd
01:12:01
was arrested and charged with first-degree murder of his ex-wife Michelle NY Ridder why'd you do it
01:12:08
Carrie their daughter Carrie who the police believed have been manipulated by Lloyd faced second degree murder charges
01:12:17
for helping her father get into the house that night what was your reaction when you
01:12:23
heard that not Carrie not car in February 2018 district attorney Brooks Baker began preparations to face off in a
01:12:36
courtroom this became essentially our our nerve center our war room for the for the trial this is not typical for
01:12:43
the cases you usually try no no even even a murder case usually we can survive in a box or two but to go four
01:12:49
or five boxes um demonstrative how much material there was here there's a reason
01:12:55
why you have that up there don't you yeah this is Michelle's the final day of Michelle's life it is it is uh this is
01:13:00
this is a Saturday she was murdered this is a good day for them they went icing they got you can't really see it but
01:13:08
they're they're on great big ice blocks this reminds is why we're doing it because this lady's not here to have
01:13:14
another day like this Baker knows his odds of convicting Lloyd will great greatly increase if he
01:13:27
could convince Carrie to testify against her father she is looking at 15 years to
01:13:32
life if she cooperates with the understanding that if she does not cooperate and is not truthful at trial
01:13:38
she'll face 25 years to [Music] life it takes Carrie sitting in a jail cell a couple of weeks to
01:13:49
decide she agrees to testify against her father and plead guilty but then during
01:13:55
an interview with investigators she surprises everyone with a new detail he opened the door my mom was
01:14:05
Ling on the floor and um he said you needed my help get lifting her admitting for the first time
01:14:15
she had an even bigger role helping her father cover up the murder we dragged her around the corner
01:14:24
and he hied the Rope to the to the one prong of the bister and lifted her up and put her through her over the
01:14:33
side sorry that's okay okay she laid her hands on her mother and felt her her mother's cold
01:14:43
dead body that's that's pretty that's pretty hardcore this is the woman that gave you
01:14:49
life and you maybe didn't directly take her life but you helped the individual that did
01:14:56
it was so hard to understand how could a child do this to her mother could lloy really have manipulated Carrie into this
01:15:07
and and I had that same problem and even as we were preparing for trial I said Carrie you're going to be asked that
01:15:11
question there was a moment when you your father says to you it's either I have to kill mom or or I kill myself and
01:15:20
you have to help me and those are the only two choices and why she's a smart girl girls she could have said no well
01:15:27
and and you know all those folks in Jonestown could have said we're not going to drink the Kool-Aid you think
01:15:32
she was brainwashed I really think she was brainwashed we found out that there is a definition for what he was doing
01:15:38
and are you talking about parental alienation yes I am yeah parental alienation it's when one
01:15:48
parent consistently bad mouthe the other in front of their children and it's something Michelle worried about in fact
01:15:55
in these court documents filed in the Years preceding her death Michelle actually accused Lloyd of turning carry
01:16:03
against her the district attorney thinks that's exactly what happened I can understand how you could
01:16:12
cause your children to dislike the other parent but to kill that other parent that seems like a step too far I don't
01:16:20
think it's causing dislike that's not what this peration it it it causes them to absolutely devalue them his people
01:16:28
case in point 2 years before her death Michelle was backing out of her driveway while Carrie bickered with her and tried
01:16:36
to block her car from leaving friends say Lloyd then convinced Carrie that Michelle tried to run her over Carrie
01:16:44
even called police on her mother and while the charges didn't stick the idea seemed to if you can brainwash your
01:16:52
daughter into thinking that her inching out of the driveway was your mother trying to run you over then well she
01:16:58
tried to kill you so it's okay for you to help try to kill her and when Lloyd later gave carry that ultimatum and so
01:17:05
basically he was going to kill himself um or there is this way he wouldn't kill himself
01:17:15
um which was killing my mom the da says Carrie felt she had no choice but to choose her father over her
01:17:26
mother but would the jury believe it as Lloyd's trial approached the da was determined to paint a picture of Carrie
01:17:35
as Lloyd's Pawn but Lloyd had his own plans is his defense going to be that she did it it has to be
01:17:50
[Music] how much were you looking forward to trying Lloyd n rider for murder you know
01:18:05
you never look forward to a trial because it it means 90 hours of work every week this one I wanted to try I
01:18:11
wanted I wanted everybody to see who Lloyd was and for Michelle's s to see what he had done to her the evidence
01:18:18
against Lloyd NY Ridder was circumstantial all the district attorney had was 's word and the jury might not
01:18:27
believe her story what he needed was physical evidence linking Lloyd to the murder of his ex-wife Michelle we took
01:18:36
Michelle's clothes we had them re-examined by the state police looking for touch DNA um when we got done what
01:18:41
we found was Lloyd's DNA had had contact with Michelle's clothing the um pajama she was wearing the night she was
01:18:50
murdered prosecutors gave Lloyd the damning news and a final opportunity to come clean we made to him an offer I
01:18:59
sort of expected he would never ever accept uh he had to plead guilty as charge to first-degree murder uh he
01:19:05
would face a sentence of 25 years to life with a possibility the judge can sentence him to life without parole and
01:19:11
just two weeks before trial so what did Lloyd decide to do he decided to plead guilty as part of his plea deal Lloyd
01:19:21
had to recount his role in the murder but when it came time to take personal responsibility I thought we we were
01:19:29
going to go bad from minute one cuz he starts off blaming Michelle there were no cameras in the courtroom but Lloyd
01:19:36
tells the judge he killed Michelle because he believed she might hurt their children that would be Lloyd blame
01:19:44
everybody else blame the victim but then he sort of said but that doesn't matter
01:19:48
I have no excuse murder is wrong and and he went through and alloc puted line by
01:19:52
line of what he did in the end Lloyd fulfilled his end of the plea deal admitting he planned and carried out the
01:20:02
homicide and that he manipulated Carrie into helping him so what should happen to him I want
01:20:10
him to have life in prison don't want him to ever get out and ever hurt my grandchildren again he has an evil
01:20:19
mind Michelle's Mother jeie spent days writing a statement she hes will persuade the judge to give Lloyd a stiff
01:20:28
sentence she read it to us Lloyd n rider abused and tortured my daughter for 25 years he coerced his own daughter into
01:20:38
helping him kill her mother Carrie is now in jail facing the possibility of years in prison Lloyd n
01:20:46
Ridder should never be given the opportunity to harm anyone again please your honor give him life without Pearl
01:20:53
and that's EX exactly what the judge would do and what do you think about what happened today the outcome oh I'm
01:21:00
I'm so Overjoyed I'm so happy it's life without peole and Michelle got justice so thank you but there was still
01:21:11
the matter of Carrie and what price should she pay for her mother's death that's a hard one isn't it that's
01:21:21
a hard one I don't believe she should go to prison I think that she needs psychiatric help I think she needs a lot
01:21:30
of therapy district attorney Brooks Baker would agree Carrie needed therapy but he didn't think that would be enough
01:21:40
she has to pay a price she has to serve a sanction I think for her own sanity she needs to serve some penants remember
01:21:47
Carrie initially plagued guilty to Second deegree murder a charge that could put her in prison for 15 years
01:21:55
but the da supported a decision allowing her to now plead guilty to a lesser charge second degree
01:22:05
manslaughter jeie again wrote To The Judge I always ask myself what would Michelle want me to do I do not believe
01:22:15
my daughter Michelle would want a long prison sentence for her daughter she would want her to
01:22:21
eventually lead a happy life and the judge would be lenient very lenient Carrie NY Ridder was sentenced
01:22:32
one to three years in a state prison it was a huge relief to jeie who planned to tell her and her two sisters
01:22:42
all about Michelle and just how much she loved them she knew that she had lost them the
01:22:52
two oldest and she wanted them to be happy and she hoped that someday they would realize
01:22:59
what was done and come back to her and see how hard she fought for them to have a good
01:23:06
life she wanted to live a beautiful life to have a beautiful life and for them to
01:23:12
be happy [Music] where is your emergency okay my mother's I don't know if she's breathing but
01:24:26
she's laying on the ground in the shower I need to go over there and see if she's okay okay how do you know she's
01:24:32
down there my dad my dad's over there he's in the bathroom I'm not in the bathroom okay I need to put you on
01:24:41
hold and not it's like a house [Music] pH the actual call came out where the victim fell in the shower
01:24:56
oh my God everywhere the supervisor at the scene called and said I think you're going to
01:25:03
want to come up here there's quite a bit of blood I'm thinking this had to have been
01:25:08
some fall Dr newlander said that he removed his wife from the shower and ultimately took her into the bedroom in
01:25:15
order to perform CPR emergency Personnel determined that she was dead shortly after they arrived Leslie was so well
01:25:23
known they were both both very active in the philanthropic Community he's delivered thousands of babies so if you
01:25:30
you know you just multiply that out there's literally tens of thousands of people that have some connection to Dr
01:25:36
newlander the medical examiner makes a ruling she slipped and fell in the shower accidental death right I thought
01:25:43
you know how sad and then went about doing the other things that I'm am supposed to
01:25:49
[Music] do you know this was supposed to be a fall in the shower but we've got blood
01:25:55
on this wall some blood spatter up on uh on an angled wall and then my suspicions began to
01:26:05
rise and I'm wondering if if if we miss something here do you have any explanation as to how that run got on
01:26:15
the wall the best explanation to me is an impact event on or near the South side of the
01:26:33
bed impacts batter Force impacting liquid blood there was obviously a violent encounter in that bedroom inconsistent
01:26:43
with a scenario where she wakes up goes into the shower slips and is discovered by her
01:26:51
[Music] husband it's a homicide it's an arrest 18 months in the making it was originally ruled an accident but police
01:27:00
have been investigating ever since I don't think people kill people without some reason so why did he do it
01:27:11
ma'am ma'am oh my God one of the absolute major major points of the prosecution's case was the 911 call from
01:27:22
the daughter oh my God my my mom Jenna newlander was important to the prosecution and the defense because
01:27:30
she was the only other person in the house at the time of these events [Music] [Music]
01:28:31
inside this Grand Home on the morning of September 17th 2012 is someone coming a disturbing scene was unfolding
01:28:41
my mom my okay as 23-year-old Jenna newlander frantically called 911 [Music] Jenna
01:28:57
Jenna oh my God Jenna's father Dr Robert newlander had screamed to her for help he said he just found his wife on the
01:29:06
floor of the bathroom shower within minutes paramedics arrived at the house 61-year-old Leslie
01:29:14
newlander had suffered a massive head wound she was pronounced dead at the scene you get a call fall in the shower
01:29:23
you show up expecting to see the accident victim near the shower that's right the expectations are that she's
01:29:31
going to be either in the shower or immediately right outside the shower instead former dwit New York police
01:29:38
Sergeant Scott cael found Leslie in the bedroom on the floor close to the bed I walk into the actual bedroom and that's
01:29:47
when I catch all the blood capril noticed blood in different areas of the bedroom pulled on the rug and spattered
01:29:55
on the wall next to the bed my radar is going off as far as saying uh we need to
01:30:00
answer why why all this blood is here Cil had plenty of questions but Dr newlander seemed to have all the answers
01:30:09
telling investigators that after finding Leslie on the shower floor he carried her out of the bathroom some 60 ft into
01:30:18
the bedroom where he could more comfortably perform CPR out something he did despite Jenna's
01:30:30
protests as he's relaying the story about what had occurred and as the medical examiners digesting it and as
01:30:36
we're all digesting it his actual story of step-by-step process fit the pattern of where you saw these different pools
01:30:46
of blood the medical examiner on the scene examined Leslie's injuries and ruled they matched up with Dr newlander
01:30:54
count the death a tragic accident Leslie newlander died from hitting her head on
01:31:00
the shower bench the whole thing was was uh the whole thing was out of uh character with a fall in the shower
01:31:08
you've been a cop 20 years had you ever seen head trauma like that before well not from a fall but as we're listening
01:31:15
to the medical examiner explain what what he feels could have happened you know we're not Physicians we're not
01:31:21
forensic Pathologists we're we're police officers were investigators so we certainly defer to him the account of
01:31:28
Jenna newlander an eyewitness I see him actually carrying her seemed to back up the medical examiner ruling that this
01:31:37
was an accident when police interviewed her as part of their routine investigation he was like putting his
01:31:44
face off her to see if she was breathing the death of Leslie newlander shook the
01:31:52
community everyone knew the newlanders Mary jellic was a good friend of the newlanders they seem like the perfect
01:31:59
couple the perfect marriage the perfect family really Leslie was a fabulous woman very vivacious
01:32:07
energetic unpretentious she was switched on yes I know people always speak well of the dead but truly this was her
01:32:15
personality to be so giving and Alive Leslie and Bob gave generously both their time and money
01:32:24
they were well known for their philanthropy their social prominence dovetailed with Robert newlander
01:32:31
professional standing one of the most highly regarded gynecologists and Obstetricians in the Syracuse area he
01:32:38
delivered a lot of babies around here many many with a lot of good feelings toward the care he gave those patients
01:32:45
for many many years my interactions with Dr nander were joyful were these wonderful things that were happening and
01:32:52
welcoming their baby becoming a family family Julie Crosby who worked with Dr newlander assisting pregnant women says
01:32:59
patients were drawn to his supportive demeanor I found Dr nander to be compassionate kind knowledgeable that
01:33:09
caring way say those who knew them best was a defining value for this tightly knit family the closeness is plain to
01:33:18
see in these birthday tributes for Robert and Leslie made by their children Emily and from Robert's first marriage
01:33:25
and Ari and Jenna from Leslie and Robert's 28-year marriage mixed with loving teasing for their mother she's
01:33:33
like how does everyone know I'm from New York I don't understand how does everyone know I'm from New York is a
01:33:40
deep appreciation thank you for being you I love you the newlanders thoughtfulness was something Mary jellic
01:33:48
experienced firsthand after becoming Gravely ill with an infection while on vacation in the Czech Republic in the
01:33:56
summer of 2012 I was in a coma and then in the hospital for 3 weeks when she finally returned home the first
01:34:04
neighbors to check on her were the newlanders I remember hugging everybody and I remember Leslie saying we're so
01:34:12
glad that you made it just 2 Days Later Mary received the devastating news Leslie was dead a freak accident she'd
01:34:22
slipped in the sh shower I couldn't believe that she had just been to see me and tell me how grateful she is that I'm
01:34:30
alive and she's dead it was shocking it was overwhelming what did you think about that well at the time I thought I
01:34:40
guess that can happen even to a 61-year-old very healthy athletic person that was the same
01:34:48
conclusion onandaga County district attorney Bill Fitzpatrick reached when he first heard about Leslie's death he
01:34:55
believed it was a tragic accident until a few months later when a tip changed everything I'm going to get to the
01:35:03
bottom of this 3 months after Leslie newlander sudden death Mary jellic began getting some unusual
01:35:27
calls from friends what are they saying we don't think it was an accident and who better to share their concerns with
01:35:35
than a forensic scientist for 11 years Dr Mary jelik was the County's chief medical examiner until she retired in
01:35:45
2009 my focus for my entire career has been to speak for the dead Dr jelik listened carefully there were questions
01:35:54
about all that blood and whispers about the newlander personal life are you hearing about a troubled marriage yes
01:36:02
are you hearing about financial problems yes in recent years Dr newlander thriving practice had been derailed by a
01:36:11
battle with an insurance company and he was now delivering half the number of babies he did
01:36:17
previously Dr jellic was reluctant to get involved but she finally picked up the phone and called her old colleague
01:36:25
da Bill Fitzpatrick did you feel in some way you were betraying the newlanders I
01:36:31
felt I was responding to gossip as it turns out the da had also been hearing things he' received an
01:36:40
anonymous letter just before Jim bellic's call suggesting a different side to Dr newlander that he's not the
01:36:48
you know the good guy that that people are making him out to be Leslie was trying to break away from this guy
01:36:55
jamel's initial Hope was she could soon put all the speculation to rest and she volunteers you know pro bono to take a
01:37:04
look at the case and would I make the file available to her and I said absolutely as you began to look at this
01:37:09
file what jumped out at you the severity of the injuries compared to the explanation Leslie had suffered a
01:37:18
penetrating wound toward the back of her head so severe the blood pulled in her eye had you seen head wounds like this
01:37:27
before of course in what kind of cases uh car accidents Falls from uh you know 20 story building um beatings what
01:37:41
might cause this kind of injury a heavy object of some sort you're talking about
01:37:47
getting hit with some object yes what do you tell the district attorney after reviewing the file that this is a
01:37:54
homicide blunt head trauma from an assault half a year after Leslie newlander death the investigation picked
01:38:03
up steam police Revisited the death scene to collect more evidence from the now unoccupied newlander home which had
01:38:11
been sold one of the things we find is blood all over the back of a headboard on the bed we also found blood spatter
01:38:18
on the blinds that were behind the bed Dr newlander was living in a new apartment which was also searched by now
01:38:26
he had retained one of the best criminal defense lawyers in the city Edward Menin
01:38:31
this has been an Open Secret and a subject of uh Gossip and irresponsible rumor now for months Dr newlander has
01:38:39
not been charged with any kind of offense M assured the da his client had nothing to hide so much so that 15
01:38:48
months after Leslie's death Dr newlander now retired voluntarily sat for an interview with prosecutors and
01:38:57
investigators even acknowledging there had been problems in their marriage but you were sleeping separately okay what
01:39:05
was the reason for that uh we had uh thought about a trial separation yet Robert newlander portrays the home as
01:39:14
peaceful and loving despite the issues in their marriage the night before Leslie died the couple along with their
01:39:21
son Ari and daughter Jenna had a family dinner at a friend's home after Ari headed back to his college dorm and
01:39:29
Jenna went back home with her parents we said good night to each other we loved each other and everybody kissed and went
01:39:37
to their prospective bedrooms Dr newlander tells the da that early the next morning he went for a jog
01:39:45
at a nearby State Park Green Lakes and then brought Leslie her usual cup of morning coffee when he got back the show
01:39:53
is on I hear the water running and I place it on the nightstand about an hour later he says
01:40:01
he returned to check on Leslie and there she was lying on the shower floor Dr newlander says he started CPR
01:40:11
and tried to call 911 but the bathroom phone wasn't working so he ran toward Jenna's bedroom yelling for her to call
01:40:19
911 the time 8:25 a.m. my mother's I don't know if she's breathing but she's laying on the ground
01:40:27
in the shower he said he then went back to Leslie and began to move her he says he can't see the lighting is not uh very
01:40:35
good in the bathroom he then put Leslie down just outside the bathroom to give her mouth
01:40:45
to mouth before moving her again I don't know at what age we all learn that you don't
01:40:56
move somebody with a serious head or neck injury but we all know it and here's a guy that's been practicing
01:41:02
medicine for 30 years finally Dr newlander says he placed his wife next to the bed to continue CPR there's you
01:41:12
know more red flags than a bull fight going off in my head when I hear that story for the first time Fitzpatrick
01:41:17
develops his own theory that hours before that 911 call Dr Newland assaulted his wife in the bedroom and
01:41:26
then likely chased her into the bathroom I think that he struck her on that shower bench she may have already been
01:41:33
in the process of dying at that point Fitzpatrick believes newlander made up the story of finding Leslie in the
01:41:40
shower and called for Jenna so he'd have a witness as he carried his wife back to
01:41:45
the bedroom what do you think he was doing when he was moving her I think now he has got to explain the blood trail
01:41:52
from the assault assault that took place in the bedroom that eventually made its
01:41:56
way into the bathroom and he's got to do it in reverse he had to move that body himself to explain that blood as for the
01:42:04
blood spattered in the bedroom the da believes Dr newlander didn't realize some of it was there because the
01:42:11
violence took place before the sun was up and don't forget he's committing this crime it's dark he doesn't know where
01:42:18
all the blood is but if Leslie newlander was attacked in her bedroom why were the
01:42:23
sheets nearly pristine the newlanders longtime housekeeper provided a clue to investigators she looked at the bed and
01:42:32
got upset and said those are not the sheets that were on that bed that Friday um she was very confident of that the da
01:42:39
believes that Dr newlander got rid of the sheets and the weapon on that alleged morning run I think the murder
01:42:47
weapon is at the bottom of Green Lake somewhere along with the the missing sheets with evidence now ing the medical
01:42:54
examiner changed his original report from accidental death to homicide nearly two years after Leslie new Lander's
01:43:03
death her husband Dr Robert newlander was charged with her murder the defendant moved the body of
01:43:11
Leslie newlander after her death to make it appear as if she had died from an accidental fall in the
01:43:18
shower but Dr newlander family says Fitzpatrick has it all wrong Leslie's own children Stand United with the man
01:43:26
accused of murdering their [Music] [Music] mother in March of 2015 2 and 1/2 years
01:43:45
after the death of Leslie newlander high drama was about to unfold in the Ananda
01:43:51
County Courthouse has all the elements the rich defendant a beautiful wife and the Mystery
01:43:58
surrounding it was it an accident was it a homicide so it was huge it was huge for this community Not only was a
01:44:05
prominent doctor on trial but two of Syracuse's top trial lawyers were squaring off to determine his guilt or
01:44:13
innocence people were stopping you on the street you know hey Fitz uh how's it look or go get him or I hope you lose I
01:44:21
have never had a CL ient whose innocence I believe in more firmly than him Ed Menin spoke to local reporters but
01:44:29
declined our request for an interview if either one of them finds blood in the water they go right for it we asked
01:44:37
retired local attorney Jim Stevens to explain the defense's case he's a CBS News consultant who attended the trial
01:44:45
it was going to be riveting it was a top-notch trial all the way around each day in court began with the
01:44:52
same seen in the hallways free on $100,000 bail the doctor would arrive flanked not only by his children but by
01:45:01
Leslie's sister and brother he didn't do it that's the message he didn't do it it
01:45:08
was not a crime the state has bigger hurdles to contend with than just images prosecutors have no weapon and no
01:45:17
clear-cut motive is it risky to go to a jury without those things sure sure they
01:45:23
I mean the jurors you know they're not any different than you and I they want they want answers Fitzpatrick believes
01:45:29
the evidence like the blood spatter in the bedroom will tell the jury that this was no accident and he's Enlisted the
01:45:36
help of forensic scientist Karen green to make his case blood stains can tell you a lot they can tell you a lot and
01:45:44
they're associated with just about every crime scene that we go to there were no
01:45:48
cameras in the courtroom so we asked green to take us through her blood spatter analysis there was spatter on
01:45:55
the headboard there was spatter on items on the nightstand just south of the bed
01:45:59
spatter on the blinds above the bed and there were spatter on the south wall that was about 7t to the south of the
01:46:06
bed tell us about the south while we've been referencing it what are the two spatters that are marked sbd1 that's an
01:46:14
area where we saw over 100 spatter stains the prosecution contends the spatter was primarily something called
01:46:22
impact spatter created when lesli was attacked in the bedroom to better understand the terminology we built a
01:46:30
set and supplied Karen green with Stage blood to give us a rudimentary lesson when we talk about impact spatter what
01:46:39
does that mean impact spatter is force applied to liquid blood so I'm going to pour some of our artificial blood here
01:46:46
into my hand and I'm going to punch it and that's Force going into a blood Source the force impacts the blood blood
01:46:53
and the blood spatters yes and then the blood breaks up into smaller drops it's impact that's one way blood
01:47:05
gets out you can see how it's it's radiating out we have some smaller stains with
01:47:11
some directionality up to the top for the newlander case green conducted various experiments trying to recreate
01:47:18
the spatter in the bedroom going so far as placing a rock covered in PL sck and a wig on a bed to simulate Leslie's head
01:47:27
I had a location that was similar to the newlander bedroom with the slanted ceiling I used all the measurements that
01:47:33
were in the scene the approximate height of the bed I had a nightstand and then I
01:47:39
put liquid blood and I impacted it I just had to verify that an impact on or near the South side of the bed could
01:47:48
create spatter 6 to 7 feet away in the same distribution and could it I was able to recreate with an impact event an
01:47:56
impact scenario all of the spatter that I saw in this bedroom but the defense mocked Green's methods and said they
01:48:04
amounted to nothing more than whacking a mannequin over the head the defense had
01:48:10
their own blood spatter expert he testified it was not possible to determine if Leslie's death had been an
01:48:16
accident or homicide because the investigation had been flawed there were not enough closeup pictur pictures of
01:48:23
the blood some of the evidence in question like the headboard and the blinds had been collected months after
01:48:29
the incident emergency Personnel had walked all over the scene in fact the defense suggested that EMTs may have
01:48:38
been responsible for some of the blood spatter First Responders probably had blood on their hands and that the gloves
01:48:44
were just peeled off and then so doing the blood flies from the gloves and you don't have an impact but you have a cast
01:48:52
off the defense also argued that the blood could have been cast off by Dr newlander himself the doctor said he'd
01:49:00
been wearing a long sleeve shirt that became so wet and bloody as he tried to frantically save his wife's life that he
01:49:07
pulled it off those spatters by the bed were caused by him removing a shirt Fitzpatrick scoffs at those theories
01:49:16
pointing out that paramedics are trained to carefully remove their gloves and that no gloves or shirt could could
01:49:22
account for the amount of blood in that room that doesn't explain any of the blood it's a significant amount of blood
01:49:29
the defense in insists it was an accident and that there may have been a good reason why Leslie newlander fell
01:49:36
that morning she had vertigo a dizziness disorder Leslie's personal trainer told
01:49:42
the jury that Leslie's condition had grown worse and her sister Joanne testified that it ran in the family and
01:49:50
that she herself suffered from it the idea of her sister testifying is that affecting your view of the case
01:49:59
sure why wouldn't she be m in hell and why wouldn't she be saying I'm not testifying for you what are you crazy
01:50:07
you killed my sister to bolster their case of an accidental death the defense hired Dr Daniel Spitz a medical examiner
01:50:15
working in Michigan who's seen more than a share of traumatic head injuries his testimony basically is the massive head
01:50:24
wound that caused her death was caused as a result of her falling in the shower against the stone bench if Leslie
01:50:32
sustained an injury in the shower by her head striking the stone bench what does
01:50:36
this do for Dr newlander defense the home run but the prosecution countered that Leslie suffered at least two blows
01:50:45
to her skull and that the wounds were not consistent with their head striking a straight edge like a stone shower B
01:50:53
it should be like a simple linear fracture uh with some bleeding underneath of it but you don't get the
01:51:00
complex depressed fracture like this Dr jelik did not testify a trial but consulted with the prosecution Leslie's
01:51:09
other injuries they say don't add up to a slip and fall there were abrasions scrapes of the skin on her cheek
01:51:17
bruising on her nose more on the left side of the cheek as well well bruising and scraping on her neck if she slipped
01:51:25
and fell in a shower why aren't there any injuries to her back or her legs her knees her elbows critical to the
01:51:33
prosecution's case not just how Leslie newlander died but when Dr Spitz estimated Leslie died around 7:30
01:51:43
a.m. but the da makes the case that her death could have occurred as early as 4:15 which fits his theory of a pre da
01:51:53
assault the time of death is absolutely inconsistent with the defendant story there is now just one more witness left
01:52:01
to testify the doctor's daughter what did she see that terrible morning she was there she was there
01:52:23
[Music] the day that Jenna was to testify The Spectators were lined up in anticipation
01:52:39
of what she was going to say 2 and a half years after Jenna newlander beloved mother Leslie died thank you for being
01:52:46
you I love you the now 25-year-old devoted daughter is a about to take the stand to defend her father there was no
01:52:56
doubt there was pain in that courtroom when she testified she's trying to secure her father's freedom and she's
01:53:04
dealing with the death of her mother right I don't know how she got un understand to do it she's the only other
01:53:10
eyewitness she was very very important to the outcome of this case with all eyes on her Jenna
01:53:18
tearfully describes the mother she lost she was genuinely upset and mournful about testifying the testimony forced
01:53:29
her to bring some memories to the surface of her mother who she clearly loved very very much Jenna then tells
01:53:36
the jury what happened in the newlanders home in the hours before her mother died
01:53:41
she says she was with her mom in Leslie's bedroom until 2: a.m. and Jenna clearly remembers the sheets on her
01:53:49
mother's bed that night she says they're the same ones in the death scene photos
01:53:54
sheets the housekeeper said had been changed the changing of the sheets was a significant issue and why would you
01:54:03
change the sheets change the sheets because there was blood on it no bloody sheets there's no impact event right on
01:54:09
the bed I need to go over there and see if she's okay okay then there's perhaps the most critically important piece of
01:54:16
evidence I need to put you on hold I'm not it's like a house pH the later part of the 911 call Jenna
01:54:24
put the call on hold in her mother's office to get closer to the bathroom where Leslie
01:54:30
was oh my God blood everywhere both sides argue Jenna's cry there's blood everywhere is key and
01:54:40
supports their case to demonstrate the arguments we made an animation of parts of the
01:54:47
newlander home based on evidence the prosecution presented at Trump the prosecution believes as Jenna was
01:54:56
running into the bathroom she passes blood here and here a trail of blood that could not yet
01:55:07
exist unless Robert newlander attacked Leslie earlier in the bedroom and then left her in the shower she has passed
01:55:16
the entrance to the bathroom where uh there's a significant amount of Blood on the wall that only could have come from
01:55:23
Leslie's head perhaps uh by being pushed against that wall or perhaps being chased the da says Jenna then grabbed
01:55:32
the landline phone in the water closet to reconnect with 911 and yells there's blood everywhere oh blood everywhere
01:55:42
you you're saying it's a big deal how she even phrased oh my God there's blood everywhere that her mother's not part of
01:55:51
that sentence exactly her initial response would have been oh my God my mother's bleeding my mother's on the
01:55:59
ground she would have referenced what she was seeing Fitzpatrick believes Jenna drops the phone and the call
01:56:06
captures seconds later the exact moment when she first sees her mom as Dr newlander starts to carry Leslie's body
01:56:14
around the corner out of the shower and into Jenna's view it is then she lets Loos a cry
01:56:22
of pure anguish oh my God oh my God as painful as it is to listen through it is inconceivable that that
01:56:34
call is anything other than a declaration of guilt against her father but the defense says the same call
01:56:43
proves Dr newlander innocence that when Jenna runs into the bathroom there is no
01:56:48
blood on the walls yet Jenna testifies she picks up the phone by the toilet drops it because it isn't working while
01:56:56
rushing to help her father they carry her mother to this area right outside the bathroom and Jenna says it is at
01:57:04
that point she takes a cordless phone from her mother's dressing room and reconnects with the 911 operator in the
01:57:11
defense view this is when Jenna sees blood on and around her mother this is when she yells there's blood everywhere
01:57:20
oh is are you the defenses take on that is that her mother is present in front of her and she's reacting to her mother
01:57:31
the blood that's on her mother and maybe Blood on the wall and on the on the floor as well Jenna was asked on the
01:57:37
stand did you see blood on your way to the water closet correct she answered what she said no that supports the
01:57:46
notion that the first time she saw blood she was looking at her mother correct the da though doesn't believe Jenna
01:57:54
could do everything she claims to have done during the 13 seconds the 911 call was on hold Fitzpatrick tried it himself
01:58:03
and says it took him about 50 seconds it is not physically possible to do that in
01:58:09
13 seconds it's not even a close question there is one other part of Jenna's testimony that may be crucial
01:58:18
Jenna tells the jury that as her father was tending to her mother mother in the bedroom she saw him take off a blood
01:58:25
soaked shirt and throw it to the side now remember the defense suggested that tossing this bloody shirt may have
01:58:33
caused some of the blood spatter in the bedroom but the shirt has never been found there isn't a single witness that
01:58:44
saw him with a long sleeve shirt on other than Jenna if we injected Jenna newlander
01:58:51
with truth ser and said did your father kill your mother she would say no I don't think in
01:58:58
her mind Jenna believes that her father did this I think she is created a protective World in her mind where Mom
01:59:07
slipped and fell in a [Music] shower but the question now isn't what Jenna believes it's what the jury
01:59:18
believes I'm worried that they're having an emotional reaction to the agony of this
01:59:26
girl they know that this girl wants them to vote not guilty and they know that this 60 plus year old defendant is
01:59:38
unlikely to reoffend and all of those emotions can play to the detriment of a case that has
01:59:49
to be proven Beyond A Reasonable Doubt [Music] [Music] after eight grueling days of testimony
02:00:11
district attorney Bill Fitzpatrick addressed the jury one last time for closing arguments asking them to pay
02:00:18
close attention to the physical evidence specifically the blood spatter on the walls and the injuries to Leslie
02:00:25
newlander body as I said many times in the trial Leslie will speak to you ladies and
02:00:30
gentlemen you have to listen to her and also to listen carefully to the words of
02:00:36
Jenna newlander in that critical 911 call oh everywh it proves his guilt Beyond any shadow of a doubt but there's
02:00:44
one thing the da could not share with the jury what he suspects was the motive that sent Robert newlander into a
02:00:52
murderous rage that morning investigators learned from a friend of the newlander family that Leslie was
02:00:58
planning on signing a lease for a new apartment on the day she died Leslie was on her way out and this is not a guy
02:01:07
that can deal with that but this was not presented at trial Fitzpatrick says because the memory of that witness
02:01:14
changed she later said the apartment was for both Leslie and Robert Ed Menin strongly denies these accusations and
02:01:23
insists there was no motive in the summation he didn't just say not guilty he said innocent innocent he said
02:01:32
innocent throughout the jury would deliberate for 3 days before alerting the judge they
02:01:39
had reached a verdict Robert newlander returned to the courthouse once again arm inarm with his
02:01:48
family the pain etched on his children's face [Music] 2 and 1/2 years after Leslie new
02:01:56
Lander's death the jury found Robert newlander guilty of her murder a heartbroken Jenna newlander
02:02:05
broke the Silence of the hushed courtroom crying out loud to her father I was there you didn't do
02:02:14
it let me know when everybody said I'm only saying it once outside the courtroom of visibly shaken Ed Menin
02:02:21
address the media Bob nolander is the most honorable person I have ever met this case has been a travesty from start
02:02:31
to finish it is not finished and so the newlander children turned to attorney Gerald charel
02:02:40
legendary for his defense of mob boss John Gotti to handle their father's appeal charel wasted little time calling
02:02:48
for a hearing to throw out newlander conviction alleging there was serious juror
02:02:55
misconduct in the spotlight a juror named Jonna Lorraine according to an alternate jur Lorraine had received
02:03:03
texts and other Communications about the case during trial against judge Miller's
02:03:09
orders not to discuss the case a search of the accused juror's phone revealed she had received some potentially
02:03:17
prejudicial texts including one from her father which read make sure he's guilty
02:03:23
but Weeks Later the judge upheld Dr new Lander's conviction pointing out the juror had been undecided in early stages
02:03:31
of deliberations and in the end the judge ruled she had taken her role seriously almost 4 months after the
02:03:42
verdict sentencing would finally commence with family photos on display the newlander children returned to the
02:03:52
courthouse for the first time all cameras are allowed in court facing a maximum sentence of 25
02:04:02
years to Life newlander Family begged the judge for the minimum sentence of 15 years Leslie's sister Joanne spoke on
02:04:11
the Family's behalf had any of us even slightly suspected Foul Play of any sort we would not be here today on Bob's
02:04:18
behalf and then it was time for Robert newlander to address the court my head is
02:04:26
unbowed by the verdict of this court for an innocent man has been wrongfully convicted I would not and did not take a
02:04:37
life I love my wife Leslie very much and I mourn her every day now and forever the judge sentenced Robert newlander to
02:04:48
20 years to life in a New York state prison jury's eyes Dr newlander you intentionally murdered your wife and
02:04:55
then attempted to use your own daughter to cover it up a daughter who most clearly Ador you which is as diabolical
02:05:04
as against as Dr newlander is escorted out of the courtroom to begin his sentence Jenna calls out love you
02:05:13
Dad the newlander children have now lost not only their mother but their father as well I I I hate what this has done to
02:05:22
Jenna that's probably the most painful thing of all he brought Jenna into that process he made her a witness for his
02:05:31
own purposes and that is cruel but Dr Mary jimell knows she has also played a role in their suffering do
02:05:43
you have any regret about your involvement in this case no this is probably the hardest
02:05:51
thing I've ever done in my whole career however it was the right thing to do and I hold on to
02:05:59
that we are finally giving Leslie the acknowledgment of what happened to her [Music]
02:06:27
[Music]