00:00:00
You all right, babe? >> The door was locked in the room. >> Yeah. >> And >> Okay. Can you sit right here for me?
00:00:09
>> These are the two daughters [music] of 28-year-old Ashley Fish. In just a few seconds, they're going to lead the
00:00:17
officer to their mother's lifeless body inside the [music] bathroom. >> Eggs were burning and she's in there.
00:00:31
And as the oldest daughter bravely guides her siblings to safety, police are still unsure whether this was
00:00:37
self-inflicted or if there's a killer on the loose. But they'd eventually discover that Ashley's killer is closer
00:00:44
to home than anybody expected, pulling investigators into one of the most tragic domestic dispute cases the state
00:00:51
of Louisiana has ever seen. >> Is she Is she alive? No, she's not. >> They're young.
00:00:57
>> Yeah, he done a number on her, that's for sure. >> I wanted him to leave. Get out there.
00:01:01
Leave the girls alone. I said I just [snorts] shoot you. >> I don't even I don't even know.
00:01:12
>> We've created a GoFundMe for these children, starting with a $10,000 donation of our own. If you'd like to
00:01:17
help, more details are in the description. On a quiet April evening in the small
00:01:26
city of Derritter, Louisiana, police receive a terrifying 911 call. But what would shock the dispatcher is the eerie
00:01:34
calmness of the caller. >> 911. Where's your emergency? >> Hi, I need to report a crime.
00:01:41
>> Hey, what's the address? >> 265 Northridge Drive, Cinder, Louisiana. >> Stay on the line. Log home with us.
00:01:50
>> Thank you. At this moment, the caller hangs up, leaving officers worried he might be in immediate danger. Officer
00:01:58
Josh Stanford rushes to the reported address, unaware that he's only moments away from discovering a scene more
00:02:04
disturbing than he could ever imagine. >> You all right, babe? The door was locked in the room.
00:02:21
>> Yeah. >> And >> Okay. Can you sit right here for me? >> Is anybody in there? >> Um, no. My sisters are inside right
00:02:28
there. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> And we got >> I was scared the eggs were burning and
00:02:35
she's in there. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Y'all come in here. Come here. Come right here.
00:02:38
>> No, I don't want to go. >> Come here. Stay in here. Stay in here. >> 254 city.
00:02:48
The woman has a single bullet wound to the right side of her head and appears to have been dead for some time. Yet,
00:02:55
the male collar is nowhere to be found. But then, the officer remembers there are still four young girls nearby who
00:03:03
have just lost their mother. >> Come here. >> Come here. >> We're all alone. Come help me.
00:03:18
Come help me. Do you know these children? >> Yes, there are neighbors here. >> Okay.
00:03:24
>> Yeah. Like Maddie, come help me. >> You got parents here? >> Yes. >> Huh? >> Can you take them to a secure place for
00:03:33
me? >> Was there anybody else here, baby? >> I don't think so. I don't know. In an unimaginable act of courage, the
00:03:45
eldest daughter guides her younger siblings to safety, leading them to the neighbor's house. The neighbor bravely
00:03:51
[music] takes in the four traumatized children, who would later turn out to be instrumental to the investigation.
00:03:57
Officers head back inside to try to locate the caller, completely unaware that he's the one who pulled the
00:04:03
trigger. >> Is there one victim or two? >> I am at I'm at North Bridge >> city. Do I have one victim or two?
00:04:11
>> So, we need to clear the rest of the house. I have not I'm under the impression there was a male here, too.
00:04:22
>> City police. >> See, please go right. >> Police department. [snorts] See, when the glass was on the phone
00:04:37
with him, I was under the impression there was a male subject that had had been shot.
00:04:42
>> Look out in the backyard. >> What's that? A smell. >> The eggs were burning. >> Oh, they cook. Oh, okay.
00:04:50
>> Where's she at? She's in that bathroom. >> Oh, here. >> Everything else cleared. Everything else
00:04:56
is clear. >> Officers find no one else inside, leaving them still in the [music] dark
00:05:02
about who the caller really is. They'd further look into the victim's injuries and quickly realize there was almost no
00:05:10
imminent struggle, leaving officers questioning whether the injuries may have been self-inflicted. But before
00:05:16
anything else, they still need to identify the victim. And this is when the officer would make a devastating
00:05:23
discovery. One that would turn this into a far more personal case. >> I don't I didn't want to wait till you
00:05:30
got here before I started trying to find an ID or anything. Let me >> Hey, you want to turn the stove off?
00:05:35
>> Yes. [music] >> Ashley Fish. >> Nobody else. You said uh kids were in the or they're they're across the
00:05:48
street. >> Ashley Fish. I I'm assuming young based off of what I'm seeing here to school with her.
00:05:56
>> Did you? >> Yeah. >> So, she's from East Borg. Yeah, they moved away. >> She came the Josh fish.
00:06:05
>> No, I don't think so. >> She's your age, though. Or >> Yeah, graduated together. So, we're
00:06:11
about the same. >> Lead detective [ __ ] immediately recognizes the name 28-year-old Ashley
00:06:18
Fish. He knew Ashley as a Ditter local, someone who married her high school sweetheart and had only recently moved
00:06:26
back to Louisiana from Texas. Determined to find answers and uncover who murdered
00:06:31
his friend, he turns to the neighbors for more information. Meanwhile, other officers begin reviewing neighborhood
00:06:38
CCTV footage, searching for anyone who may have been at the house besides Ashley and the children. And they're
00:06:44
about to discover that someone else was indeed inside. Someone who is already on
00:06:51
the run. >> Detective Couper. >> Jeff Brown. Nice to meet you, sir. Yes, sir. >> Hey, y'all mind if I ask you a couple
00:07:00
questions real quick? >> Yeah, you can ask me anything, but I really didn't see anything. The only one
00:07:04
that saw anything is my son. Your son, the one that was mowing. >> He was mowing out here. Okay. What's
00:07:10
your buddy? Detective Coup. Nice to meet you. Heard you kind of saw some stuff. Just a
00:07:17
little bit. Not much, but you seen some uh something happened next door. Uh, well, I was just mowing a line and then
00:07:27
I saw um like the car of the river leave. [music] >> Lining up with what the boy saw, another
00:07:36
neighbor offers ring camera footage showing a black truck leaving Ashley's house just minutes before the 911 call.
00:07:43
Desperate to learn who was driving that truck, officers turn to the next neighbor. Unaware they're about to speak
00:07:49
with [music] the victim's best friend and is someone who knows exactly who the driver is.
00:07:56
>> What's that? >> The girls are at my house. Can you tell us what's going on? >> It's not good.
00:08:01
>> Is she Is she alive? >> No, she's not. Um, >> was she shot? >> Yes, >> she was she was out here earlier when
00:08:10
about 5:00 or so. I saw her out here. Everything seemed fine. There was a a truck. She has a significant other.
00:08:16
She's going through a divorce. Um and they're legally separated, but he was here. The truck black truck was here.
00:08:23
>> Yes, ma'am. >> Do you think he shot her? >> Well, I can't I can't tell you a whole
00:08:27
lot. Uh so, as long as the children are safe with you for now, we'll we'll take care of it.
00:08:32
>> As far as I know, her Gosh, I'm assuming that it was T. Okay. Tyler was the person that was here. Um I don't know if
00:08:39
that was his truck. usually drives a black truck. Um, and then her husband's name is John, John Fish.
00:08:46
>> She would go on to identify their main suspect as 34year-old Tyler Durachowski,
00:08:51
Ashley's new [music] boyfriend. Detectives immediately begin digging into his history, gathering anything
00:08:57
they can find and working to locate him as quickly as possible. But just as they're about to begin the manhunt,
00:09:03
another 911 call comes in, and it's from the killer himself. Hi, I uh I need to turn myself into the police.
00:09:11
>> Okay. >> I don't know how to do this. >> Are you wanted? Do you have an active
00:09:14
warrant? >> No, I just committed a crime. >> Okay. What crime did you commit? >> I shot somebody.
00:09:19
>> Okay. Where are you located? >> I'm at Burks Outlet in Ditter. Um I'm in the parking lot and I just am going to
00:09:26
wait here to get picked up. >> Okay. Who Who did you shoot? >> A woman. >> Okay. What is her name?
00:09:32
>> Ashley Fish. Officers rushed to the address he gave, an empty parking lot. Still baffled as to why he confessed and
00:09:41
why it took him so long to come forward. Knowing he likely killed the woman in front of her children, they braced
00:09:48
themselves, fully expecting anything to go wrong at any moment or even an ambush.
00:09:54
The suspect is going to be in first parking lot. Okay. So, the easiest way to do this is
00:10:09
sit down on your foot. >> Yes. And just turn your legs in. Okay. >> If you want to go,
00:10:19
are you out with that subject at first? Can I hit you? >> With the main suspect arrested, officers
00:10:25
have no idea the investigation is moments away from taking another unexpected turn. When they search his
00:10:32
vehicle, they find no weapons, but they do find multiple prescription drugs, vials of testosterone, and syringes. To
00:10:41
their surprise, Tyler seems unusually calm for someone who just took a life. And it would quickly become obvious that
00:10:48
this calm, [music] controlled demeanor is part of a plan. A plan to get away with murder.
00:10:56
>> If you're still comfortable talking to me, can you tell me a little bit about
00:10:58
what happened? Okay. This woman and I got in an altercation last night. Things were kind of falling out between the two
00:11:03
of us just relationally and I was getting ready to move back to Oregon. So, she pulled out she had a gun in her
00:11:08
drawer. She loaded it and was pointing it at me and we started fighting and it went off.
00:11:15
>> Tyler insists he shot Ashley in self-defense after she pulled the pistol on him immediately complicating the
00:11:22
investigation. Once he's brought into the station, officers relay this information to the team at the scene,
00:11:27
who would begin searching for anything that might support his claim. And unexpectedly, they do find one piece of
00:11:34
evidence in Tyler's favor. The murder weapon itself. >> Here's what I've I've got right now. I
00:11:41
know you got a lot of information coming in. >> Cameron has got the suspect, Tyler
00:11:45
Gabowski, >> over at uh >> at Park Terrace. He gave himself up without any problems.
00:11:50
>> And he told y'all that he did. Yeah. >> You see the hair in it? >> Yes. >> I've called in the serial number. It's
00:11:58
going to be a Smith and Wesson. >> She been here for a minute. >> If I had to guess, I mean, cuz she's
00:12:03
still having some coming out of the wound. She's still pretty warm. If I had to guess, I'd say it's been between 45
00:12:10
minutes and an hour and 20. What time? >> That sitting right there. >> Yes. >> All right. So, once they run the strip,
00:12:16
we back out. more totally 40. >> Detectives still find no evidence of a struggle, but they do discover something
00:12:27
unexpected. After running the gun's serial number, it comes back not to Tyler, but to Ashley herself, meaning
00:12:35
his version of events may not be entirely false. And with that, investigators begin to grasp just how
00:12:43
little physical evidence actually ties Tyler to the shooting. They then finish processing the scene, send Ashley's body
00:12:50
for autopsy, and her phone for forensic examiners to be unlocked. Shortly afterwards, the grandparents arrive at
00:12:56
the scene to pick up the four traumatized children into their care. It's at this point that it becomes
00:13:01
clear. The oldest daughter witnessed something she will wish she never had. >> I've got some grapes.
00:13:09
Ooh. >> And some strawberries. >> Yummy. >> Yummy. Are y'all hungry? The one you
00:13:16
want to talk to is >> Yeah. She supposedly told my wife that she saw something and she didn't want to
00:13:23
talk about it. >> Hey, my baby. >> I'm going to pick you up. >> This brings a small sense of relief to
00:13:40
the officers knowing the children are finally away from the horrors inside. But now comes the most difficult part.
00:13:47
Calling Ashley's ex-husband Jon and informing him that she is dead. Lead detective [music] Kulie asks Jon to come
00:13:55
to the station for questioning as soon as possible. And while Tyler anxiously waits for his chance to speak, [music]
00:14:01
detectives make a deliberate decision to start with Jon instead. But the longer Tyler waits, the more agitated he
00:14:09
becomes. And by the time they will finally sit down with him, he will snap. I've never had someone do that to me.
00:14:16
I've never had someone get that mad at me that they load a weapon. >> One hour after Ashley's deceased body
00:14:22
was discovered, [music] Jon arrives at the station. Jon explains that he and Ashley were together for over a decade.
00:14:29
They had their first child young and went on to raise four beautiful daughters. For the detective, one
00:14:35
question matters most. What does Jon think of Tyler? Is he capable of hurting Ashley? Or was he simply in the wrong
00:14:42
place at the wrong time? But before that, something else weighs heavily on Jon. He still has to explain to his
00:14:49
daughters [music] why they will never hear their mother's voice again. I just want to let them know that she's
00:15:00
no longer with us. Mom's no longer with us. You know, she, you know, she's angel
00:15:04
now. >> Yeah. the six-year-old and the four-year-old, they don't know, you know, they're kind of like, "Oh, she's
00:15:10
an angel." They're going to talk a little bit about it and they're more concerned about how she's flying and
00:15:14
everything, you know, >> right? >> I don't know what she's seen and not but that's got me real been out of shape,
00:15:22
you know? >> On that devastating note, the detective would shift the conversation to [music]
00:15:27
the final moments leading up to Ashley's death. Tragically, Ashley seemed to sense that Tyler might harm her. And
00:15:35
just moments before she died, she would make her final cry for help. >> When I see that, he's calling what runs
00:15:42
in my head. And it's great. We got some bull bull crap. We got some bull crap. They're they're in some kind of argument
00:15:48
and they're trying to drag me into this. And I don't want to be part of your drama. I don't want to be part of your
00:15:53
drama. Nothing in the past has ever felt like [music] there was anybody in danger. Talk to my kids. The kids never
00:15:59
tell me anything's going bad around the house, so I'm not really feeling too in and through all this time, you know. I
00:16:06
text back, I'm not trying to get in y'all's drama. That's when she texts. He won't leave. I know. As soon as I got
00:16:14
that, when I actually looked and seen that he's not [music] leaving, I called and she's like, "Hello." And and the
00:16:19
first thing I go, "What's going on? He's mad cuz he's he's got to leave. Am I" and I I said, "Are my kids okay? Are my
00:16:26
kids [music] safe?" She's like, "Yes." cuz I was a little concerned but I wasn't like super I'm I'm just ready for
00:16:31
him to leave like hung up and then I text her said talk to [music] my kids please at 6:55 I just couldn't get a
00:16:38
hold of her and I was like this is weird this is just you know it was just odd >> this is the moment at [music] 6:55 p.m.
00:16:47
John lost all contact with Ashley and with it the hope of ever rebuilding a future with her. Shortly thereafter,
00:16:56
Detective Kulie wraps up his interview with Jon, who has made one thing clear. Ashley was a loving mother, incapable of
00:17:04
harming anyone, [music] and she deserves justice. Still not ready to begin Tyler's
00:17:10
interrogation. Fully aware that physical evidence against him is alarmingly weak,
00:17:15
the detective instead brings in Ashley's other relatives to give their statements, hoping to better understand
00:17:21
Tyler's character and whether he truly is a cold-blooded murderer. And it doesn't take long for one thing to
00:17:27
become clear. Every one of them deeply distrusted Tyler to the point of even threatening his life, fearing he might
00:17:36
one day snap and hurt Ashley. >> You know, I did threaten him. You know, I wanted him to leave. Get out there.
00:17:43
Leave the girls alone. you know, I said I just should, you know, but I didn't, you know, and I went home and my wife
00:17:50
and and and my daughter, you know, they talked some sense into, you know, but I mean, thoughts [clears throat] cross my
00:17:56
mind hundreds of times now, you know, if I had carried that out, I know it's bad,
00:18:02
but they had the moment. >> He's there and he comes out and I think he shook my hand and I'm like, you know,
00:18:08
how you nice to meet you and whatnot. and he just goes straight in the door and picks up Ashley's guitar and goes
00:18:14
and hikes his leg up on the damn trampoline and starts looking at the moon and playing guitar. And I'm like,
00:18:18
Ashley, what in the is he doing? Can we just go inside? I don't want to hear this prick playing or something, you
00:18:24
know, just something. He stopped and he come over there to pull us apart. And I just rar back and punched him in the
00:18:30
side of the head. And I had told her he needs to go, you know, you need to get this done and get it get it done. Get
00:18:36
him on the road. you know, last couple weeks she told me she had made her decision. He did have to go and this
00:18:43
time it was for good. She said, "I will be alone." >> And then this other guy, I mean, and and
00:18:49
I talked with my wife about it. I said, "I don't I don't understand why somebody
00:18:53
that supposedly has got their living already set. You know, they ain't even got to work for a living to start seeing
00:19:00
somebody that has four kids that he has no kids." I said, "The only thing I can think of is maybe he's a damn." I said,
00:19:06
"That that sounds suspicious to me." You know, it is. >> It quickly becomes clear to the
00:19:11
detective that Ashley's relatives all wish he had stayed with John instead of Tyler. A walking red flag fully [music]
00:19:19
capable of snapping at any moment, but everything else investigators have is still circumstantial. Still, there's
00:19:27
hope. Police did find some concerning items in his car. Multiple anabolic drugs known to affect mood, judgment,
00:19:33
and irritability. However, even with these findings, detectives are grasping its draws. Yet, with time slipping away,
00:19:42
Detective [ __ ] knows he can't wait any longer. It's time to come face to face with their killer, who by this point
00:19:48
[music] has been waiting for hours, growing increasingly impatient to speak. With the right lawyer, he has a real
00:19:55
chance to walk free. Without one, a single wrong word could now cost him his freedom for life. [music] And for
00:20:03
Detective [ __ ] this isn't just another case. Ashley was his friend, someone he had known for years. Now he
00:20:12
has to sit across from the man who has [music] already confessed to killing her.
00:20:18
>> Okay. If I record, it's just help me keep everything in track. So, >> my my biggest thing is is I want to know
00:20:25
who you are cuz that that's very important. Um, we need to know who Ashley is. That's very important. Um,
00:20:31
it's not just the the events of what happened tonight. It's the it's the whole totality of the history with
00:20:37
[music] you guys. Um, because that's going to help best explain everything that led up to where we're at. I'm going
00:20:44
to I'm going to tell you that you remember the saying, the truth will set you free. The truth will set you free in
00:20:50
here. It's up to you. I can't make you. [music] I would love to know. We would all love to know just for the sake of of
00:20:57
you and for the sake of Ashley, obviously. I mean, I feel like giving a statement just because I'm here. I don't
00:21:03
know how long we wait for a lawyer to get here or whatever, but I just wanted to talk about what happened, you know,
00:21:08
tonight. So, I don't know if that's, you know, I >> I think it's important because right now
00:21:12
we've got obviously >> I think I think I need to tell what happened cuz at about 6:00 p.m. around
00:21:18
6:00 p.m. I'm not even quite sure when it was when I called the actual police department or called 911. Um, what I had
00:21:25
left it [music] as. There were four children in the house and a woman. >> From the outset, detectives suspect
00:21:33
Tyler has a plan and that turning himself in may have been his first step in trying to appear more innocent. And
00:21:40
as the interrogation unfolds, that plan becomes crystal clear. Everything that happened that night was, according to
00:21:48
him, Ashley's fault. The woman and I had an altercation with a loaded weapon and she has a bullet in
00:21:56
her head. Never initiated like violent contact on her like that. I'm not the one that pulled the gun. Like I don't
00:22:03
[music] have the gun. I don't want the gun. I don't want it in disputes with a gun.
00:22:08
>> No intention to shoot action. >> No, I've never [music] had I don't want to take a mother away from her four
00:22:14
kids. Like that's not my thing. I close the door. I [music] locked the broom door to the bedroom so the kids don't go
00:22:22
in there. I had [music] emptied out the gun. It was empty and I left it there and I went out. I didn't know what the
00:22:28
[ __ ] to do. I'm sorry. I wasn't perfect. The kids were there. There's a 9-year-old there that's really
00:22:33
responsible and was watching the kids. The neighbors were outside across the street or I had seen neighbors outside
00:22:38
at one point across the street. I felt like I just needed to go and be like, "This just happened." So, I drove to the
00:22:45
parking lot down the street and just called 911. >> In Tyler's own words, the shooting was
00:22:51
merely an altercation. But what stands out even more is how he refers to Ashley only as a woman, never as his partner or
00:23:01
ex. Up until this point, Tyler has not shown any emotion when talking about Ashley. But detectives can sense
00:23:08
something beneath the surface. Tyler avoids eye contact. He rambles, fidgets, and appears restless, almost like he's
00:23:16
on the verge of a breakdown. And the moment detectives ask about Ashley's children, Tyler would finally crack.
00:23:25
>> And she's got how many kids? >> Four kids. >> Were they all at the house tonight?
00:23:28
>> He does. >> Okay. >> This is the first real emotion detectives have seen. But they needed to
00:23:35
determine whether this is genuine guilt, a calculated tactic, or emotional instability tied to his anabolic
00:23:43
substance abuse. Aware that Tyler could shut down the interview at any moment, [music] Detective Kulie grows more
00:23:49
cautious, so he starts carefully probing Tyler about any problems in his relationship with Ashley. And this is
00:23:57
when Tyler would slip up. >> I was married for 5 years and I felt like a man of honor and I had a ring on
00:24:02
and I was proud of it. I was proud to be married. I was proud to be a good husband. And I fell into this this weird
00:24:07
relationship that I never wanted, you know, to be in. I've never wanted to be a part of. And I just went down this
00:24:13
road that I just kind of felt like I could never escape from. I was like drowning in it, you know. So, I'm just
00:24:17
like, >> like I was able to divorce in Oregon, you know, it went through in just a
00:24:22
couple months. Like a couple months it was finalized and it was done. Her thing has been a year.
00:24:26
>> It takes a year for them to like do the separation process and everything. And
00:24:30
so we've just been kind of in that >> whirlwind of back and forth with everything and stuff. And I've thought
00:24:35
about leaving multiple times. I've wanted to leave multiple times just because it's kind of too much to just
00:24:41
take being like, am I taking this woman away from am I taking this man away from
00:24:45
four kids, like his four kids, whatever. I just have felt a lot of I felt a lot of guilt in my life in this
00:24:50
relationship. >> According to Tyler, he felt guilty and was planning to walk away from the
00:24:56
relationship. But detectives already know this isn't true. Ashley's ex-husband has already shown
00:25:02
investigators messages in which she repeatedly complained that Tyler refused to leave. Additionally, detectives
00:25:08
uncovered love letters exchanged between Tyler and his ex-wife. Proof he wasn't trapped at all. To my love, by the time
00:25:16
you see this letter, you're miles away from me. Don't be mad. I hid one last love letter in your things. You defeated
00:25:24
the world to get to me. I'm never going to forget about you. Don't forget about me. I hope you're ready for when we meet
00:25:30
again. It's clear to the detectives that Tyler [music] left his marriage by choice and could have gone back at any
00:25:36
moment. So, Detective Kulie would push further into the dynamics of their relationship, asking whether things had
00:25:42
ever turned abusive. It's at this moment that Tyler's mask would slip, revealing
00:25:48
a deep insecurity [music] about his masculinity and a resentment towards Ashley he could no longer hide.
00:25:55
>> Has it ever become physical? Has she ever hit you, struck you, kicked you, slapped you?
00:26:00
>> Slapped a couple times. Just got slapped with things, shoes or something like
00:26:04
that. She's hit me with like shoes and stuff >> out of anger. >> Frustration. Yeah.
00:26:08
>> She hits you hard. I mean, just like a I mean, I don't want to sound like a I
00:26:13
mean, she just slapped me with like a with her like slippers, you know. It's kind of like that across the when she
00:26:19
was mad about something. Yeah. >> Okay. So, you know, like the way I picture is like if my wife's
00:26:24
>> agitated with me or aggravated with me and she pops me with something. >> Are we saying something like that or we
00:26:29
are we saying she aggressively like you >> no pops you with something? I would say
00:26:34
middle ground of that. Just kind of like pissed about something, but just that's
00:26:38
how she's reacting to it. But she wasn't like overly like I'd never seen a level
00:26:44
of aggression to this [ __ ] point with a gun. I don't know where that came from. I have no idea. I've never seen
00:26:49
her do anything, pull any [ __ ] like that ever. I didn't even know she could. >> But now Tyler would inadvertently reveal
00:26:56
something far more disturbing about himself. As part of their custody agreement, Ashley wasn't allowed to have
00:27:03
anyone stay overnight, including Tyler, a rule he knew very well. And as soon as
00:27:09
their relationship began to fall apart, Tyler's first instinct was to expose that violation to her ex-husband,
00:27:17
knowing full well it would cost Ashley custody of her children. >> And so, our relationship was really
00:27:23
falling out here. And uh I threatened to tell him the truth when I was getting ready to leave. I was
00:27:31
going to call her husband and be like, "I've been spending the night here. I don't know what legal ramifications it's
00:27:35
going to have for you guys and your life and your world. This I've been in this relationship with you. This relationship
00:27:41
has hurt me in a lot of ways. I've sacrificed a lot of things. And for me to go and have closure, I think that
00:27:46
like I'm just going to let John know the whole truth. I think he deserves to know
00:27:48
the truth. And I'm sorry. It was kind of an ugly ending for both of us, this woman and I." Tyler has just shown how
00:27:54
quickly he can retaliate and how easily he could justify harming Ashley whenever
00:27:59
he felt the need to do so. But according to Tyler, what happened next wasn't just
00:28:04
another argument. He claims Ashley suddenly escalated the situation to a deadly level by pulling a gun on him.
00:28:11
She has a loaded gun or she has a gun in her uh drawer next to the bed and I was
00:28:17
in the bedroom talking with her and she loaded her gun and cocked it back and basically told me that she wasn't going
00:28:25
to let me call until and so this just went to like a thousand like zero to a thousand in like one blink of an eye.
00:28:33
[ __ ] I'm like in the bedroom talking with her, having a normal conversation. She's like loading a gun in front of my
00:28:38
face and she has a pistol like literally packing some stuff, putting some stuff in the drawers. I wasn't doing [ __ ] I
00:28:43
didn't hit her. I wasn't like fighting her or anything. I was just talking and she like loaded her gun and was pointing
00:28:48
at me. I just know that like that's where that started from. And I'm not saying that to like did like do
00:28:53
something dig myself in the grain like oh the past he never saw it happen and now she did. That sounds like [ __ ]
00:28:59
No, she did it though. I'm a man. I'm a lot stronger than her. was aggressive, but it was like she's not she's shot
00:29:05
that gun before. She knows what the [ __ ] she's doing with it. I don't shoot guns.
00:29:08
I didn't like barely ever shot a gun in my life. And so the whole way it it happened, I feel like for me, I didn't
00:29:15
mean to do anything. I didn't mean for her to do anything. It was like basically felt like it was like just
00:29:21
fighting for my life. And I feel like it was like this is how it ended. >> According to Tyler, this chaotic
00:29:27
struggle wasn't aggression. It was survival. Detectives continue to press for details about what happened in the
00:29:33
bathroom. And what Tyler would say next would either support his self-defense claim or unravel it completely.
00:29:40
>> Okay. How long from the time she came into the bathroom to where it escalated
00:29:44
to the point she gets shot? Talking about seconds or minutes? >> 2 minutes probably.
00:29:49
>> Talk to me. >> Just struggling. >> Those two minutes fighting, trying to It's a combination of talking, moving
00:29:54
the gun around each other, just like I'm trying to grab her. I'm trying to hold on to her. It's just like it was just
00:29:59
felt like it was like fight for survival. I don't know what was going on. Felt like she was going to kill me.
00:30:04
>> So at no point you stripped the gun from her and had the gun in your hand totally.
00:30:10
>> Not until it was over. Not until she was on the ground. >> Were you on top? Was she on top? Behind?
00:30:17
She You were behind >> behind like kind of in like this like kind of trying to do like a chokeold
00:30:22
[ __ ] thing or something. She was like trying to get the gun to me. So it was just in our general facial areas. Okay.
00:30:28
>> After the shot, what happens? >> I don't even I don't even I stood there and I
00:30:36
couldn't believe what the [ __ ] happened and the first thing I thought of was the
00:30:39
is I have to call somebody. I have to get someone here. I have to stand up for what I've done.
00:30:44
>> Tyler is becoming increasingly more agitated, forcing detectives to call a short break, concerned that pushing any
00:30:51
further would cause him to shut down completely. But the moment they step outside the interrogation room,
00:30:56
everything changes. New evidence comes in and it directly contradicts Tyler's story. Tyler claims Ashley had the gun
00:31:05
in her hand and they were fighting over the weapon. But when Ashley's body was discovered, her phone was still in her
00:31:12
right hand, her dominant hand, meaning she hadn't been holding a weapon in the moments before she was shot. Then came
00:31:19
the most damning detail. Ashley's hair was found inside the barrel of the gun. Combined with skull fracture patterns,
00:31:27
it proved the weapon had been firmly pressed against her skin when fired. This wasn't self-defense. This was a
00:31:35
coldblooded execution. This was exactly what detectives needed. Armed with this evidence, Detective Kulie re-enters the
00:31:43
room. And this time, he's ready to confront Tyler about his story. But to the detective's surprise, his controlled
00:31:50
demeanor has disappeared and Tyler is about to lash out. >> Well, do you feel like it probably just
00:31:57
got out of hand? >> Yes. I think our whole relationship was out of hand. And I think that I've I've
00:32:02
never had someone do that to me. I've never had someone get that mad at me that they load a weapon in their house.
00:32:08
The kids were asleep. It was two nights ago. And she [ __ ] it back and she's standing there like all cocky looking at
00:32:13
me like she's going to like she knows what she's going to do with it. I mean, why not? If this lady's got a gun, why
00:32:19
not just get the hell out of there? >> Cuz the she had never done anything like this before. I just the other night, two
00:32:24
nights ago, I don't even know why I let that go. >> I should have left the house.
00:32:29
>> Um >> I guess is it fair to like say I was afraid for my life, though? >> Yes.
00:32:33
>> Like, is that fair to say that? I mean, I feel like the dude, the cop out there
00:32:36
was like, "You're a big dude." And I feel like it's not fair if it's like you look like you can hound yourself. you
00:32:41
could have just like punched her in the face or like kicked her or something or like like done something and I'm like I
00:32:47
don't know, man. You one bullet goes off and you're [ __ ] >> So, I just felt like it was like for me
00:32:52
it's not about that. >> That's right. >> It's about a It was a fight for literally like she I don't know what the
00:32:57
[ __ ] she's going to do. She threatened me that night. So, now I'm just like I don't even [music] know. It just feels
00:33:01
like it was a accident. I didn't try to murder anybody. I didn't try to kill anyone. I I don't know how I don't know
00:33:07
what the happened. I don't I worked in the medical field. I know that it's not good. I know that.
00:33:14
>> Tyler's words no longer sound like the frustration of a man defending himself.
00:33:19
They sound like hostility towards someone he blames for everything that happened. But this is when Tyler would
00:33:26
start to realize he isn't coming across the way he hoped. And when detectives press a little harder, they're about to
00:33:33
make their biggest mistake, pushing Tyler to shut down completely. >> We're we're still missing some things
00:33:41
that I feel that you're kind of you're kind of rushing through. And I think I think
00:33:48
>> processing today, I just want to feel like I'm like someone's like on like kind of listen like on my side
00:33:54
>> on your side, right? >> No, but I'm not trying to get what you're saying. I know I've seen this in
00:33:58
the movies. I know what I'm trying to do. Like it's like the more I tell now it's like the better it looks. Like the
00:34:02
more I just tell now it's like but I'm getting to that place where it's like we're at like the heart of everything
00:34:08
that happened. I'm trying to be really careful with like if I [ __ ] up or if I say something stupid I don't know what
00:34:13
the more I talk I feel like the more it's like going to look like oh man dude. I'm trying to explain the best I
00:34:18
can what happened right now. The whole world if they know what just happened is probably like that guy's a piece of
00:34:23
[ __ ] So I'm like feel really alone where I like don't have anyone. My family's not here. No one's here. I
00:34:28
understand I understand that Ashley's not here either and I'm trying to process [music] that [ __ ] right now.
00:34:35
>> But >> what we're going to do is we are going to refrain from any more questions.
00:34:40
>> Understood. >> If you feel compelled to re-engage or say anything, you are more than welcome.
00:34:46
>> You know, I appreciate you guys being patient with me. I know you guys got to
00:34:49
do this with people and stuff and I'm not trying to tell you guys I don't want your counsel. I don't want to tell more
00:34:53
and more and more. I just feel like I'm at that point looking at that piece of paper when I told you. I want to be able
00:34:58
to tell someone that's kind of like sitting here going like, I hear what you're saying. I hear what you're
00:35:01
saying. Maybe don't say anything. Maybe some counsel. I know you guys are counseling me right now and I'm
00:35:06
appreciating it, but I need someone else that just feels like it's like this, man.
00:35:11
>> It's at [music] this point that Tyler refuses to answer any more questions until his lawyer arrives. But with the
00:35:17
evidence stacked against him, Tyler would ultimately be charged with seconddegree murder and four counts of
00:35:23
child abandonment. He would go to trial maintaining that he acted in self-defense, but the state's case would
00:35:29
be overwhelming. Tyler would be found guilty on all charges and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.
00:35:37
Thank you for watching and supporting our team. To help the four children affected by this tragic case, we've set
00:35:42
up a GoFundMe and began with a $10,000 donation from the Dr. Insanity Team. The funds will primarily go towards therapy
00:35:49
and educational expenses, helping give these children the best possible chance despite what they've been through.