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[Music] on November 25th 2020 it was the day before Thanksgiving I received a phone call
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shortly after 4:00 from the Mount Morris police chief and he asked me kind of frantically is anybody my house and I
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said my daughter Melissa is and said there's a fire and it's bad my sister Melissa she was 9 months
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pregnant about to have a baby in 2 days what do you remember from November 25th 2020 it was my 17th birthday my
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birthday is November 25th me and my mom were at a store we're picking out a cake
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and we finally got home and my brother Carl frantically is calling my mom have you heard from Melissa have you heard
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from Melissa and we're like no why Carl said the neighbor called and he said the
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house is on fire so at that point my heart just sank because we were not sure if Melissa was
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home or not I just wanted them both to be okay and all I could think was please just
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have one of them at least one of them make it through the night when everyone said they didn't
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know where she was and they couldn't hear from her I knew I knew just had that gut feeling that she was
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gone for a huge tragedy like that to occur the day before Thanksgiving on Julia's birthday right before the baby
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was to be born it was just so much when I arrived at the scene I was told the victim was found late on the
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floor in front of the stove Melissa Lish was a 27-year-old EMT we're trying to figure out why there's a fire in the
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kitchen we couldn't tell if it was intentional or accidental there was all kinds of possibilities running through
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our heads but we we didn't know what happened to her my daughter Melissa she's very
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thoughtful and that's why she got into being a paramedic she wanted to help people
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[Music] when MSA first told me she was pregnant she told me a couple things about the
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dad Matt py they on and off hung out for years and had a similar click of friends
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Matt py was a firefighter paramedic he was a good firefighter Matt was somebody that was Dependable on the fire scene he
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was just one of the guys he was Keeping a Secret the fact that he fathered a baby in the hopes that the child
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wouldn't be born for Matt he never had a child before he didn't want to make it known to other people because he just
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wanted to keep that part of his life private Matthew py was a person of interest on day one simply because he
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was at the scene Matthew py later told investigators that he was at the house to see Melissa to talk about um the
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[Music] baby he admitted he was there he he told them everything that they would have
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needed to know about his presence there didn't have anything to add they discussed their finances and
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then Matt left as she was making some lunch she talked about tring some food or something but wa I didn't stay
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around I believe from the very beginning he was trying to set up a story that there was an accidental house fire that
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had been cooking something which would explain why her body was found in the kitchen when you got the call about
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Matthew py possibly being involved in a murder what did you think uh denial that it wasn't one of
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our people it doesn't chime with what a firefighter is we put fires out we don't start fires
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we help people we don't hurt [Music] people it is unthinkable [Music] [Music] before the fire that set Melissa lish's
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home Ablaze on November 25th 2020 the day had started with excited anticipation Melissa was due to give
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birth to a baby boy in Just 2 days and Thanksgiving was a day away she was going to have a nice private
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Thanksgiving with Dad so I gave her a call the morning of the 25th and uh we talked for about 2 and a half hours
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Cassie ball and her sister Melissa had lots to chat about we talked a lot about the future we talked about what was
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going to come with the baby the conversation ended because she looked outside the window she said you got to
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be kidding me she's like he's freaking here again I told him he's got to stop doing
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this at the door was 33-year-old Matthew Ploy the expectant father of Melissa's baby she said I'll tell you what he
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wanted I'll give you a call right back bye hung up does she ever call back no my sister never called
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back Melissa Lish and Matthew py met and became friends 7 years earlier while each was in college they maintained a
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casual relationship the friendship says the lambish family cooled off once Melissa let Matthew know about the
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pregnancy Melissa told her family he did not share her interest in becoming a parent he wanted her to get an abortion
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she didn't want that he blamed her ghosted her it did come to upset Melissa because they were friends for so long
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she thought he'd at least want to be involved a little bit yes Melissa thought that he would want something to
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do with a baby to that point she thought he was a pretty nice guy then she saw a
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different side of him and that really upset her Deanna and Gus were fully prepared
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to help their daughter with whatever she needed for the baby I had said he doesn't want to be a part of the baby's
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life you know don't push the baby is your child we told her whatever you needed I'll I'll help you financially
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she knew she had plenty of family support everything would have been fine the Lish family was a large one
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Melissa had four siblings she was already an aunt and was known for following her own path Melissa was
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unapologetically herself and that is what she was she's perfect mix of sugar and spice not too spicy not too sugary
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it's just perfect Melissa was strong she was fierce she was a go-getter Melissa liked
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to reinvent herself through hairstyles and careers most recently the 27-year-old had been working as an EMT
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kind of fell into the line of work she had an experience in college that took her to a emergency room and she really
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appreciated how she was treated and she wanted to do the same for other people you're proud yes that was her job and
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she took it seriously as her due date neared Melissa had to stop working to make things
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easier she moved into her childhood home with her dad her parents had divorced several years earlier Melissa grew
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increasingly excited about becoming a mom even though she and Matthew had little contact Melissa would continue to
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send him like sonograms or when things would happen cuz sometimes he would respond a little bit but she didn't know
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really where he stood exactly but mulsa wanted her baby to have the option of having the mother and the father so she
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kept the communication with him he often shut down Matthew wasn't just shutting out Melissa he kept the fact he was
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going to be a father a secret including from his co-workers and chief Rob Schultz at the Carol Stream fire
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district several counties away from Melissa's home we're here 24 hours a day and it's
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a just a normal uh course of being a firefighter and that you talk about your family your personal life and what's
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going on good bad or indifferent I knew Matt as a single guy that didn't have any
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kids even Matthew's own parents did not know about the pregnancy until Melissa told them Melissa wanted them to have
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the opportunity to be part of their grandchild's life how did Melissa say his parents responded to the news of a
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grandson Melissa said that his parents were very nice that um they said let me know what you need I'll help you any way
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we can how did Matthew find out that Melissa had told his parents they were having a baby I believe believe that the
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parents then approached him but it was not long after that that she had said he's mad I told them because he had kept
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it a secret yeah Melissa celebrated the upcoming birth with family and friends at a baby
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shower she had let everyone know she was having a boy it was a happy time until nearly 2 months later on that fateful
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Thanksgiving Eve it was just all so surreal while Melissa's family tried to process their loss investigators were
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hoping to provide them with answers about what had happened the fire debris is everywhere Brian ker then the lead
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detective at the ogal county sheriff's office headed to the kitchen where Melissa had been found everything's
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covered in Smoke ceilings walls have fallen down and everything's a mess ker and other
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investigators also headed outside to an ambulance to view Melissa we've noticed that she didn't
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have a whole lot of fire damage to her what does that say that the fire didn't kill her
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[Music] we needed identify the area of fire origin and what may have caused that
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fire Michael P then a special agent with the Illinois State Fire Marshall's office was trying to establish whether
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the fire at Melissa lish's home was accidental or intentionally set what are you looking for where the
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greatest damage is at where the fire patterns are at we looking at everything and everything in this picture that may
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have something to do with the origin of the fire where do you think the fire started uh I believe the fire is over
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here actually it's in these cabinets where these cabinets used to be above the stove area but when P examined
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the stove thinking that perhaps cooking Flames caused the cabinets to catch fire
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he saw that neither the oven nor the burners had been turned on all the controls are in the off position and
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there is no fire damage in the interior of this oven to show that this was some type of cooking
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fire also did not find any electrical issues so we're starting to run out of accidental causes and we could identify
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at least three very simple and easy ways to exit this resident much of the house besides the
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kitchen remained accessible so po thought Melissa could have found a way out it was what I would call a survival
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fire this young lady was a paramedic she's used to dealing with emergencies for her to totally lose her
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perspective and stand there and try and fight that fire when you start putting all these things together that you start
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coming up with okay this makes no sense while PA was inspecting the house investigators talked with the Lish
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family ker learned about the phone call that day between Melissa and Cassie that
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Melissa ended when Matthew Ploy arrived at the house we learned from the family that he
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was a fireman Melissa's brother Carl told investigators he had already spoken on
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the phone to py telling him he knew he had been at the house that day Carl also told py about the fire and that someone
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had died but not that it was Melissa investigators did that when they asked ploy to come in for an interview that
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evening [Music] disease okay as you watched his interview what did you think about his demeanor his
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responses emotionless very softspoken Matthew said he went to talk to Melissa he wanted to talk about money about
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being allowed at the hospital when she was set to be induced in 2 days and that that's why he was there in that
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interview Matthew made a reference to a deadline when explaining his decision to
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go to the house that day I mean there's a deadline for for that so we were the deadline for for a pregnancy
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there's a deadline it was a phrase that investigators didn't quite know how to interpret was Matthew a suspect at that
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point no he was not a suspect what are the next steps in the investigation we need to determine the cause of
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death we don't know if if Melissa had a medical episode or if somebody did something to her or if the carbon
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monoxide from the fire killed her we don't know to get those answers two autopsies
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would be performed one 2 days after Melissa's death and then another about 2 weeks later while lab work was completed
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the results normal carbon monoxide levels and no soot was found in her system what was found was evidence of
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strangulation including hemorrhages around her neck Melissa it was determined had been
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murdered we have to plan a funeral and while we were still waiting for things it was nearly 3
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weeks on December 14th 2020 the Lish family held a funeral for Melissa and her unborn baby who Melissa was going to
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name Barrett we didn't get to kiss his forehead touch his cheek the first time we got any kind
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of contact they were in a casket and the first time I touched his hand I just remember gasping just and I
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had decided I was going to keep holding his hand something Melissa didn't get to
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do Melissa's family was convinced that Matthew Ploy was responsible for their profound grief that he killed Melissa
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simply because he did not want to become a father Matthew investigators would learn
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had been juggling multiple women in his life I believe he did it because he's selfish and it was going to change his
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life having a child Melissa wasn't asking him for anything no money nothing he could have walked away so why I think
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it was his pride he wanted to keep it a secret with no other suspects and with Matthew admitting to being at Melissa's
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home that day investigators were also circling in on Ploy but were still Gathering
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evidence we had collected DNA evidence at the autopsy and we sent that to the crime lab we gotten search warrants for
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phone records we were in the process of getting that information back they were also waiting to get information back
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from Amazon about possible recordings from an echo do that ker had noticed and was retrieved from the fire damaged
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kitchen we were hoping it would record conversations or something from the day between the two of them that Amazon Echo
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dot could turn this case around could have it could have recorded Melissa screaming for help yelling out his
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name we didn't know what it would be [Music] I was contacted by our police chief to
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give him a call immediately that he had something very important sensitive to talk about when Carol Stream fire chief
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Rob Schultz returned the call he couldn't believe what he was hearing one of our firefighters was
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being investigated in a in a suspect in a murder that occurred about 2 hours from our fire District's
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boundaries it was now 9 months since Melissa lish's death in a house fire that had sent shock waves through the
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community and Mount Morris where her home was located but firefighters where Matthew
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py worked in Carol Stream about 75 M away were unaware of the fire Ploy had said nothing when you heard the name
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Matthew py in that call what did you think I was you know there's no way this could be Matt they have something wrong
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here but that disbelief started to change when Chief Schultz checked to see if PL worked the day of the fire and
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learned he had called out sick a notot in my stomach like literally wanted to throw
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up the fire chief's Sinking Feeling only got worse when he learned that investigators believed Matthew killed
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Melissa and their unborn child because he did not want to be a father and then set the house on fire in
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hopes of destroying evidence we had placed Matt immediately on paid administrative leave when I
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called Matt in to to tell him I just said I'm being told that you're under investigation for a murder of your
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strange girlfriend and the baby that your father of did you ask him why he hadn't mentioned it didn't feel that it
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was uh something that he wanted to talk about and he felt it was personal matter
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and didn't want to disclose it while on leave on August 28th 2021 Matthew Ploy was called in again for
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questioning my name is Brian I'm the lieutenant with the Sheriff's Office this is CL willingly appeared without an
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attorney and I wanted to contribute and be in the life of our child over the course of the 7-hour interview he
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explained to investigators why he was at Melissa's the day of the fire so we talked about you know what I could pay
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her and that we we just saidd we work it out later to visit again he said when he left that
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afternoon Melissa was talking about making lunch she talked about joing some food or something but I we I didn't stay
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around most of the 7 hours was filled with investigators asking questions and Matthew Ploy saying very little so did
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you go there to kill her or did you just go there to talk to her and something happened we kept accusing him of things
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and he never said I didn't do it he never said you guys got the wrong person he was just emotionless and he wouldn't
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communicate not once in seven hours not once did he get upset most people would have told us I'm done but he just sat
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and listened to us had you ever experienced an interview like that before never it wasn't just the lack of
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communication that made lieutenant ker think py was guilty but on the rare times P did talk the unusual way he
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phrase things did you attend each other I had no intention of during that 7-hour interview at one point Matthew
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did say I had no intentions of hurting Melissa did that make you do a double take yes cuz in our opinion that means I
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hurt Melissa but I didn't intend to do it but it was not an admission of guilt so ker wanted to see if py would say
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anything more and made an unusual request of fire chief Schultz we asked Chief Schultz if he would wear a
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listening device so that he would have a conversation with Matthew we would be able to hear it and record it and try to
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gain some evidence that way when Brian asks this of me I'm pretty taken back and initially I had said no way and I
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did some thinking about it and called them back and said yes you have a lot of responsibilities as a fire chief but I
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can't imagine you ever thought wearing a wire tap would be one of them no I don't
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freely talk about it it's not something that I'm proud of it was something that needed to be done in the hopes of
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helping the investigation there's a grieving family out there that that's looking for
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answers and so on September 9th 2021 Chief Schultz called Matthew Ploy and asked him to come in to
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talk and he agreed he says I'd like to come talk to you Matthew came in later that day the fire station was quickly
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cleared of all other personnel and Brian ker and other investigators headed over
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they were able to place a device that just recorded audio on a phone on fire chief Schultz's desk and listened in
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from outside the fire station and from an adjoining office how are you feeling nervous very
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nervous scared Chief Schultz tried to learn what happened to Melissa by appealing to Ploy on a personal level
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I'm trying to find answers and I'm trying to help you help me help me walk through I mean what what happened but
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the nearly 2-hour conversation yielded very little info from Ploy with him again again barely speaking about the
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day Melissa died I remember saying fill in all the blanks for me and isn't it odd that no one here knows that you're
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going to be a father like that's that's something we celebrate here what do he say nothing uh head was down uh a lot of
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the conversation did he ever say I didn't kill Melissa and my baby he did not with none of the interviews
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resulting in a confession there was still no arrest something that exasperated the lambish family oh it was
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excruciating and I mean we were pestering the uh the police [Music] constantly there were several reasons
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for the delay there was the wait for the fire Marshalls report which concluded that the fire caus is most likely
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incendiary in nature possibly the result of a fire being intentionally set in an
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effort to conceal a potential homicide and and getting information from Amazon on whether Matthew's voice was recorded
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on that Echo dot they retrieved from the kitchen took time it did reveal voices but nothing that proved helpful for our
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case it wasn't even on the day of the murder investigators had also waited to obtain Matthew pl's DNA until after the
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August 2021 interview hoping he would first confess to killing Melissa we got the results back saying
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that it was his DNA under her fingernails turn around your hands B your back on March 9th 2022 after a year
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and a half of investigating Melissa lish's death with a police body cam rolling Matthew cloy was arrested on
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charges including murder the intentional homicide of an unborn child and arson technically right now you were under
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arrest the motive that the state painted was just an inaccurate portrayal of Matt by the
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time of Matthew P's arrest he had hired attorney John cup they painted him to be
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this monster that at the drop of a hat after a career of saving people decided to suddenly start killing people you
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were indicted by the grand jury the evidence doesn't show that Matthew py murdered Melissa Lish or their un bone
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child [Music] [Music] Melissa Lish was loved this is not someone who had enemies lined up around
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the block who wanted to see her deceased rather there was one person and one person only and that was Matthew py
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yesterday 16 member panel assistant State's Attorneys Allison Huntley and Heather Cruz were part of the team
00:27:07
Prosecuting Matthew Ploy all signs pointed toward Matthew py from the very beginning what we wanted to portray to
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the jury is that he was a a guide saving lives for his entire career defense attorneys John cup and
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Liam Dixon say their client was misunderstood and as a firefight was a responsible person not a murderer Matt's
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plan was to financially support her he had offered her money before his plan was to be
00:27:36
there Matthew py pleaded not guilty to all charges on March 18th 2024 more than 3 years since Melissa's murder his trial
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began in Ogle County Illinois the prosecution argued that Ploy murdered Melissa and their unborn child because
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he didn't want to be a father he was Keeping a Secret the fact that he bed a baby in the hopes that the child
00:28:02
wouldn't be born the defense told the jury there's no evidence py harmed Melissa and that he had gone to see her
00:28:10
that day just to talk they discussed their finances they discussed what would happen with the birth of the child and
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then Matt left as she was making some lunch I believe from the very beginning he was trying to set up a story that
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there was an accidental house fire that she had been cooking something I believe
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that was how he laid out the scene which would explain why her body was found in
00:28:33
the kitchen prosecutors called fire investigator Michael P to testify about his findings he told the court that he
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found no evidence of an electrical or cooking fire and you start ruling these these various different things out how
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certain are you that this fire was intentionally set I'm certain that it was intentionally set no doubt No Doubt
00:29:00
during cross-examination the defense suggested that Michael P was unsure of his findings citing language in his
00:29:08
report such as most likely and it is believed you use the phrase it is believed because that's an uncertain
00:29:15
opinion correct just the way I described it but that's an uncertain opinion correct not
00:29:22
to be P says he was just using standard terms used during fire investigations I review information the state also called
00:29:31
forensic pathologist Dr Amanda humans who had performed one of the autopsies there was no soot in her
00:29:39
Airways and her measure of carbon monoxide in the blood was within normal limits so she was deceased prior to the
00:29:46
fire Dr humans testified that Melissa's body showed evidence of a violent struggle the jury heard about the
00:29:53
hemorrhages around Melissa's neck a specific type of broken blood vessels called ptical hemorrhages which
00:30:00
according to Dr humans is a Telltale sign of strangulation this is the most fa hemorrhages I've ever seen in a
00:30:09
strangulation case to sit through trial was beyond devastating Deanna Lish came to court
00:30:16
every day I had been prepped by the victim's Advocate things were going to be gruesome I was going to see a lot de
00:30:25
says she always kept Melissa and her baby bear it in her thoughts she was so strong willed and had such Pride that
00:30:33
baby was going to be a strong guy Matthew P's parents also attended the trial they've been by his side
00:30:40
throughout this yes every court date one of the most important witnesses to testify was Melissa's sister Cassie
00:30:49
talking about the day Melissa died and that call which Cassie says was interrupted by Matthew Ploy what was the
00:30:57
last thing your said to you during that phone call sorry she said she make the conversation
00:31:06
quick and you'd call me right back did Melissa call you back no jurors watch those recorded
00:31:19
interviews with investigators where Matthew Ploy admitted he was at the house how long were you at the house
00:31:28
was more than an hour think prosecutors wanted jurors to hear that phrase py used there's a deadline for for that
00:31:37
referring to the birth of his son as a deadline he said there's a deadline to these kinds
00:31:45
of things that was his deadline to murder Melissa if you think about it logically Thursday's Thanksgiving and
00:31:52
Friday is her due date his deadline the only time to do this was Wednesday so he
00:31:58
took off work and completed his goal the prosecutors found even more telling what
00:32:05
Ploy didn't say especially during that 7-hour interview 4 hours of which were played for the jury what is chilling is
00:32:14
the fact that he never denied murdering Melissa and he never denied killing her baby boy not one time it's chilling from
00:32:24
a personal perspective but that's also excellent evidence that the defendant couldn't bring himself to lie about that
00:32:31
fact over the course of multiple interviews for several hours he was calm and reserved his silence defense says
00:32:40
actually points to his innocence not his guilt he had a right to remain silent but the police are allowed to continue
00:32:47
to poke and prod and try to get him confused and he just didn't buy into any of that they say their client when he
00:32:55
did speak was open with investigators he told them everything about his presence there he didn't hide any of
00:33:03
that he just never admitted what they wanted him to admit which was that he killed Melissa and his child which he
00:33:07
didn't do do you think the fact that the fire didn't burned down the whole house
00:33:12
does that play in Matthew's favor or not I believe it does if he's a firefighter
00:33:17
and he's trying to destroy evidence you would think he would have the ability to
00:33:21
set a fire to complete that goal but during three days of testimony the state laid out the case that it
00:33:29
could have only been Matthew py who set that fire to conceal evidence of the murder of Melissa and their unborn baby
00:33:38
something the defense was about to contest the State's Fire expert deemed that this was arson he did and we had an
00:33:45
expert who directly contradicted that what do you think of Matthew P's interview with investigators join the
00:33:54
conversation on Facebook and X [Music] [Music] the state's expert didn't do a fraction
00:34:13
of what he should have done to properly determine the cause of the fire this should have been an undetermined fire to
00:34:20
try to poke holes in the prosecution's case the defense called only one witness retired firefighter and independent
00:34:28
inspector John knp he was not at the scene of the fire but did study reports and photos I felt like there was
00:34:36
probably more information that could have been gathered that wasn't there he disputed the prosecution's claim that py
00:34:42
set the fire he testified that the evidence collected doesn't prove that the fire was intentionally set by anyone
00:34:50
I couldn't make that determination to whether or not what the cost of the fire should be other that
00:34:58
deter when you're not there at the scene you don't see what we' seeing not always
00:35:03
does every little tidbit end up in a report Michael P says the defenses expert is wrong and that his
00:35:12
investigation was thorough we're looking for anything and everything that could have contributed to the origins of this
00:35:19
fire they weren't there they needed to be there when we were doing the examination Matthew Ploy waved his right
00:35:26
to testify during closing arguments the defense accused investigators of having tunnel vision the complete lack of
00:35:36
Investigation of any other individual is shocking I've never seen such a poorly investigated case they didn't follow up
00:35:44
on any other leads that may have happened any other boyfriends any other anybody else if there had been another
00:35:51
lead investigators certainly would have followed it there simply wasn't prosecutors told the jury that the
00:35:57
evidence was clear Melissa Lish was strangled to death by the only person who had a motive to kill her Matthew
00:36:05
Ploy who was juggling multiple women and didn't want to change his lifestyle he clearly did not want to be involved in
00:36:13
this baby's life this is someone who actively hid the fact that a woman in the community was carrying his child he
00:36:21
clearly had made some choices about having multiple relationships but did not make him a
00:36:26
killer the trial lasted a week and after 2 hours of deliberation the jury returned with a
00:36:34
verdict we the jury find the defendant Matthew cloy guilty of first-degree murder guilty of all charges I could
00:36:43
hear people sobbing and gasping but like I I couldn't even lift my head what did
00:36:50
you feel shock shock the verdict was a relief for chief Robert Schultz he says the case had long
00:36:58
weighed on him and everyone at the firehouse who had worked with py there was a huge closure here when bat was
00:37:07
found guilty you still have the family out there that lost a daughter lost a grandson you're never going to change
00:37:16
that 3 months later on June 27th 2024 Melissa's family and friends gathered at the courthouse for
00:37:25
sentencing Matthew Ploy listened with little reaction as Victim Impact statements were read we lost Melissa in
00:37:31
the prime of her life Melissa and Barrett should still be alive and enjoying life with her loving family I
00:37:37
shouldn't have spent Thanksgiving that year feeling like there was nothing to be thankful
00:37:43
for this shouldn't be real but it is real it is all real because one man decided to make the decision that
00:37:51
Barrett and Melissa weren't needed or wanted none of this had to happen all he had to do was walk
00:38:02
away Matthew Ploy also addressed the court with this brief statement say anything other than I
00:38:10
share the pain and sense the L of most do you believe him oh no definitely not for him to say I and two have pain
00:38:21
and loss from Wilson bear like that what a joke the judge imposed the maximum sentence Mr py you are sentenced to
00:38:31
Natural life imprisonment Life Behind Bars Matthew py will likely die in prison does that give you any sort of
00:38:43
Peace no I know it's the justice system and we received our justice but nothing about
00:38:51
this is just it's not fair nothing about this is fair no punishment in the world
00:38:57
brings them back I miss her personality I think it's her sass Melissa sister Julia Lynn tries to hold
00:39:07
on to fond memories mosa was I believe still is the best person that I've ever met what do you miss most about your
00:39:17
daughter and there's a grandson you never got to meet but where did you start I mean he was he was going to come
00:39:23
into my home I was looking forward to raising him through all of their grief the
00:39:29
lambish family honors Melissa in many ways we took toys to a local homeless shelter to honor Barrett to honor
00:39:38
Barrett we donated money to the no kill shelter that Melissa got her cat from they also sponsored a tree at a local
00:39:49
Arboretum that Melissa loved every year at the holidays this tree will always be
00:39:55
lit as part of their display shining brightly like Melissa always did was so strong she was fierce she was powerful
00:40:05
nothing was going to stop her and she was always going to prove herself and she'd do whatever it take to do
00:40:19
[Music] it you've probably heard of the NCIS from the hit TV series but we're about
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to take you inside it's real life work listen to 48 Hours NCIS early and AD free on the 48 Hours Plus subscription
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on Apple podcast as a kid growing up in Chicago there was one horror movie I was too
00:40:40
scared to watch it was called Candyman but did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder
00:40:47
listen to Candyman the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder wherever you
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get your podcast [Music]