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[Music]
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While Earl Mars was vacationing in
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California, he learned his wife had been
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reported missing from their home in
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Arizona.
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>> What?
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Mom's missing?
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What happened? The search for Ruby Mars
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involved dozens of police investigators,
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forensic scientists, DNA testing, and
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even the Coast Guard.
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>> I'm heading home.
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>> The results of that investigation
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surprised everyone, especially Earl
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Mars.
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[Music]
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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Ruby and Earl Mars were partners in both
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business and in marriage. They had been
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married for over 20 years and were the
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parents of three grown children. The
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Morrises were both accountants and
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operated their own accounting and tax
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preparation firm.
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>> They had had it for years and years and
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uh they built it up, you know, together
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from scratch and it was doing very well.
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>> Their business made them millionaires
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and they raised their three children in
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this luxurious mountain home just
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outside of Phoenix. On June 4th, 1989,
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Earl Morris headed to California to see
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his oldest daughter, Donna Kay, perform
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in a concert. She was a country singer
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with a promising career.
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>> Ruby decided not to join her husband on
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that trip, planning instead to go
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shopping with her other daughter, Cindy,
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for some furniture for her new home.
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But Ruby didn't show up on Sunday
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morning at Cindy's home for the planned
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shopping trip. So Cindy drove out to her
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parents' home.
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>> That's totally unlike her mom. I mean,
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her mother kept every, you know, uh,
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date that she ever had with her. And
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unless she called her and canceled and
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she didn't do this. Ruby Mars wasn't
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home. The burglar alarm was turned off.
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Ruby's pocketbook was missing, but her
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car was still there. Although it wasn't
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parked in its usual spot, Ruby Mars was
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a neat, meticulous person, and her
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daughter noticed right away that things
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were out of place. A faucet was dripping
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in the bathtub. Dirty clothes were piled
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high inside the washing machine and
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hadn't been washed. A carpet shampoo
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cleaner was left out. But the most
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troubling discovery was that a 22
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caliber pistol usually kept in a closet
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was missing. Cindy Mars immediately
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called the police.
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>> And that's really all I expected it to
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be was another missing person's case
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that this person would be found in a
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couple of hours.
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>> When Earl Morris heard the news of his
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wife's disappearance, he told family
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members that he would head straight home
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from California.
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If Cindy Morris was right and something
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happened to her mother, investigators
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hope to find some clues to her
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whereabouts inside the Mars home.
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It took Earl Mars longer than
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anticipated to drive home from
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California, but when he arrived, the
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police were anxious to speak with him.
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>> "So, have you ever had any fights?" Earl
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Morris told police that their
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relationship was basically a good one
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with occasional arguments, but nothing
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out of the ordinary.
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>> She ever done anything at all like this
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before? I mean, left and
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>> Yeah, she's done it before, but she
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usually calls, you know, or gets mad or
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something.
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>> Mars also confirmed that the 22 caliber
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pistol the couple owned was not in the
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closet where he last saw it. We were
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going in several different directions
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with this that the possibility of that
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she was missing, possibility of a
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suicide, possibility of a homicide.
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>> The car broke down.
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>> Earl Morris told police that his car
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broke down on the drive home from
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California and that he rented a car to
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complete the trip. But Detective Lugan
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Bule noticed something suspicious when
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he looked inside the trunk of the rental
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car. Attached to Earl's suitcase was an
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airline luggage tag for a recent flight
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from San Diego to Phoenix. A search of
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the passenger list from that flight did
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not include the name of Earl Mars,
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although there was a G. Norris listed.
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Police put together a group of
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photographs, including one of Earl Mars,
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and showed it to the airline crew
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members to see if anyone recalled seeing
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Earl on that flight. One of the flight
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attendants remembered him distinctly
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because of the poor quality of his
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toupé. Faced with this inconsistency,
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detectives decided to search the Mars
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home further to see if there was any
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evidence of foul play which might have
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been overlooked during their first
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visit.
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>> So what we did is we called in uh our ID
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text to give us a hand and uh we asked
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them to do luminol. When luminol is
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sprayed onto an area, a black light is
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used. The luminol will actually glow
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when it comes into contact with the
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blood enzymes. Forensic detectives began
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their search in the master bedroom,
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spraying luminol on the headboard of the
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bed. An area instantly turned blue. It
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was a very fine mist pattern, one they
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immediately recognized. To me, upon
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looking at it, you could determine
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because of the distribution, the shape,
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and the size of the droplets that it was
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high velocity from gunshot.
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>> Only a bullet produces a fine mist of
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blood similar to that found on the
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headboard. A beating or stabbing
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produces a much different blood spatter
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pattern. On the surface of the mattress,
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they found tiny blood stains, and they
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also found blood inside the mattress
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itself. Next, investigators sprayed
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Luminol in the bathroom.
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>> The entire shower stall lit up basically
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with the luminol. Luminol tests also
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revealed blood on the cement patio
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outside the master bedroom as well as on
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the master bedroom carpet.
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>> We noticed that the whole bedroom floor,
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which was carpeted, uh started to glow.
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>> And we knew that uh from what we were
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seeing that we did have a violent crime
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scene. Maybe not a death, but somebody
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had suffered some pretty good injuries
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at that point.
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>> But detectives had no idea to whom the
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blood belonged. To find out, scientists
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conducted a DNA test on the blood stain.
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The results of that test shocked
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everyone. A deep, dark family secret
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would soon be revealed.
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Police suspected that the blood stain
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found in the Morris's bedroom belonged
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to Ruby Mars, but there was no blood
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from the body to match the blood in the
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bedroom. But science can often identify
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a blood stain by using DNA testing. By
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analyzing the DNA from children, for
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example, scientists can tell whether the
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blood stain would have come from a
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parent. In the case of children, 50% of
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the DNA from each child will come from
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one parent and the other 50% will come
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from the other parent. So this obligated
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u inheritance of DNA from the mother to
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children is one of the important factors
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that we are looking for in conducting
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this analysis. Since children get half
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of their DNA from their mother and the
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other half from their father, a DNA
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profile of the children and from one of
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the parents can give scientists enough
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genetic information to identify the DNA
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profile of the other parent, even
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without a blood sample.
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If the DNA profile of the missing parent
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matches the DNA profile of the blood
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stain, scientists will then analyze the
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DNA from a missing person's siblings to
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confirm their findings.
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When scientists compared Cindy Morris's
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DNA to the DNA from the blood stain,
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they found one matching band. They also
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found one matching band when comparing
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the DNA profile of Ruby's brother to the
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blood stain.
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>> It's highly probable that those blood
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stains came from Ruby Morris.
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>> But scientists noticed something
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peculiar.
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When they compared Earl Morris's DNA to
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the DNA profile of his daughter Cindy,
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there were no matching bands. Earl
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Morris was not Cindy's biological
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father. When they compared Earl Morris's
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DNA to his oldest child, Randy, they
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discovered the same thing. Earl was not
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Ry's biological father either. Ry's DNA
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matched that of his grandfather, his
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mother's father. When law enforcement
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authorities in Tennessee learned of
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these DNA results, Ruby's father was
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charged with incest.
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According to the DNA tests, Ruby's
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father had sex with her when she was
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just 15 years old.
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>> Well, we had a surprise. We felt that
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perhaps the family would be surprised by
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it and that Earl Morris himself was
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surprised by it.
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>> The Morris children had another family
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secret to reveal. They admitted that
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their mother had been depressed recently
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since she learned her husband Earl was
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having an affair with her sister Peggy.
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In fact, Ruby and her daughter Cindy
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once caught the two together at the
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Phoenix airport when Peggy secretly flew
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to Phoenix to meet with Earl. Ruby
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confronted Earl about the affair, but he
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reportedly refused to end it. Also
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looking at uh Peggy, the sister, uh she
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had motive and opportunity uh to be
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involved in this too. U she lived in
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Louisiana at the time, but we discovered
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uh that she had a planned vacation going
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to San Diego that weekend. We discovered
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phone calls that Earl had made to her.
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Peggy admitted to police that she had
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planned to meet Earl in San Diego
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shortly after Ruby disappeared, but
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missed her flight. But police knew Earl
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had been in San Diego, not only because
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of the baggage claim tag on his
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suitcase, but they also found his car in
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the airport parking lot. The car
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appeared to be clean, but when Luminol
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was applied to the inside of the
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vehicle, the floor of the passenger side
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revealed a huge blood stain. So much
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blood that the individual it came from
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would almost certainly be dead. A DNA
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analysis of the blood in the car
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revealed that it matched the blood stain
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found in the Morris's bedroom, which
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scientists concluded belonged to Ruby.
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We didn't know where the body was. Uh we
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didn't know if he would transport the
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body to San Diego, why would he
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transport it down there? We had no real
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clue.
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>> The clue was here in a San Diego marina.
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The Marses owned a boat which was stored
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there. Marina employees told police that
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Earl Mars was at the marina on June 5th
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and had taken the boat for a ride. When
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police went to search the boat, they
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discovered it was missing. The Coast
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Guard was asked to help locate the
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missing boat, and they told police about
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a mysterious fire on a boat about the
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same size, which burned and sank 13 mi
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offshore from the San Diego marina. This
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is actual footage of the fire taken by a
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television news crew.
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>> There were no survivors, no people
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anywhere inside. The first thing that
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was unusual was the way it burned. It
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burned pretty much from the center out.
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And normally the fires starting either
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in the engine room or in the fuel
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compartment. And uh it just looked very
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suspect right from the beginning. So the
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things that stood out with the fact that
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there was like a lantern right in the
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middle of the boat, right on top of the
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melted fiberglass, which looked like
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somebody had thrown it there and
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possibly started a fire. Records
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indicated that Earl Mars rented a small
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boat on the morning of June 5th and
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returned it around 12 noon, about the
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same time the Coast Guard discovered the
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burning boat. It was beginning to appear
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that the body of Ruby Mars was on that
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burning boat which sank to the bottom of
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the Pacific Ocean. But prosecutors
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believed that they still had enough
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evidence to prove Ruby Morris had been
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murdered.
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>> You start building all of those
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together, then what you have is Ruby
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Morris's blood, Ruby Morris's bed, Ruby
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Morris with a high velocity gunshot
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wound um that killed her in her bed at
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her home. Who was there? Earl Morris.
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Earl Mars was charged with the murder of
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his wife, Ruby. But the case was far
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from over. Investigators were in for
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another big surprise. Earl Morris's
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defense would be a challenge for
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forensic science.
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[Music]
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>> In 1991, Earl Morris went on trial for
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the murder of his wife. The prosecution
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first had to convince the jury that a
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murder had taken place since there was
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no body.
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>> We had to build the case from scratch.
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We had to prove a corpus delecti that in
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fact a murder had occurred without the
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physical evidence for someone to look
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at.
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>> According to the prosecution, Earl Mars
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entered the master bedroom early on
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Saturday morning, June 4th.
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He dragged her body into an adjacent
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bathroom, removed her clothing, and put
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her into the bathtub to remove the
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blood.
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He then dressed her body in a jogging
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suit, covered her head wound with a
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baseball cap, and carried the body to
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the garage.
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Since his car didn't have a trunk, he
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had no choice but to place the body into
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the passenger side of the front seat.
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Earl then cleaned all of the blood from
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inside the house from the headboard, the
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bathtub,
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the carpets, all later revealed by the
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luminol.
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Earl began his journey to San Diego,
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driving nearly 400 m with his wife's
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body in the seat next to him. Blood
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continued to drip from the head wound,
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falling to the floor beneath the seat,
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later discovered by the Luminol test.
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Earl stopped once for gas, and no one
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noticed that his passenger was dead.
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When Mars arrived in San Diego, he towed
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his boat to the launch
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and in broad daylight placed Ruby's body
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on the boat along with some of the
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bloody sheets and the murder weapon. He
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also took along a lantern and some
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gasoline.
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After renting a smaller boat, he set off
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to sea, towing the rented boat behind.
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13 mi offshore in the Pacific Ocean,
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Earl Mars prepared the boat for
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destruction, hoping to bury not only his
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wife's body, but all of the remaining
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evidence of his involvement.
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After dousing the boat with gasoline, he
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stepped into the rental boat, lit the
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lantern, and threw it onto the deck.
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He left before being spotted by the
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Coast Guard.
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Sometime after Mars left the scene, a
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news crew captured these pictures while
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the boat was still on fire minutes
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before it sank. Neither Ruby Morris nor
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the boat was ever recovered.
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During the trial, Earl Mars delivered a
00:17:38
surprising defense. He admitted that his
00:17:41
wife was dead and that her body was
00:17:44
indeed on the boat that burned and sank.
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Morris also admitted to setting the fire
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and sinking the boat. But Earl Mars
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insisted he did not kill his wife. He
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said she committed suicide because of
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guilt and depression. Guilt over the
00:18:02
fact that her husband wasn't the father
00:18:05
of two of their children and depression
00:18:08
about Earl's affair with her sister
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Peggy. My first thoughts were that I
00:18:13
would be blamed for for Ruby committing
00:18:16
suicide.
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>> After you had those thoughts,
00:18:20
did you make any decisions?
00:18:24
>> Yes, I did.
00:18:27
>> What decisions did you make?
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>> Hired back with what she'd done.
00:18:33
>> Up until that point in time,
00:18:35
we had circumstantial evidence that she
00:18:37
was dead. No one to say, "I saw Ruby
00:18:41
Morris's body." No one to say, "I saw
00:18:44
Ruby Morris injured." No one to say,
00:18:47
"Yeah,
00:18:49
I saw the shooting. I heard the
00:18:50
shooting."
00:18:51
>> Earl Morris testified that he discovered
00:18:54
his wife with a gunshot wound in her
00:18:56
left temple and that she used the
00:18:58
couple's 22 caliber pistol. He said he
00:19:01
found her body after the suicide and
00:19:04
feared he would be blamed. So he
00:19:07
disposed of the body by sinking the
00:19:09
boat, but the forensic evidence proved
00:19:12
otherwise. The blood spatter evidence
00:19:15
told forensic detectives that Ruby could
00:19:18
not have committed suicide. Earl said
00:19:21
the gunshot wound was in the left side
00:19:23
of her head, but Ruby was right-handed.
00:19:26
It would have been impossible for a
00:19:28
right-handed individual to shoot herself
00:19:31
in the left temple using her right hand,
00:19:33
especially with the long barrel 22
00:19:36
caliber pistol the Marses owned. But the
00:19:39
strongest argument came from the blood
00:19:42
spatter evidence on the headboard. The
00:19:45
blood patterns revealed two layers of
00:19:48
spatter, one on top of the other. This
00:19:52
told forensic experts that there were
00:19:54
two shots.
00:19:56
>> One shot could not have caused the
00:19:58
distribution of two separate patterns.
00:20:00
There were actually two separate
00:20:01
patterns going at two different angles
00:20:03
that are not uh you cannot create that
00:20:07
in one shot.
00:20:08
>> And a person committing suicide does not
00:20:12
shoot twice to the head.
00:20:15
The jury saw Earl Morris's lastminute
00:20:18
claim of suicide as just one more lie.
00:20:22
He was convicted of murder and sentenced
00:20:25
to 25 years to life. He dropped traces
00:20:28
of Ruby Morris and that was Ruby Morris
00:20:31
on the floor. That was Ruby Morris in
00:20:33
the El Camino. That was Ruby Morris in
00:20:35
the bed. That was saying this is what
00:20:37
happened. That was our read on it. So
00:20:39
Ruby Morris was actually telling us what
00:20:41
happened to her.
00:20:43
No body, no gun, no confession.
00:20:47
The science gave us Ruby Morris and gave
00:20:50
us the corpus delecta. If it had not
00:20:52
been for the blood in the car and the
00:20:55
DNA testing,
00:20:58
I wouldn't be sitting here talking to
00:21:00
you today, Earl Morris would be a free
00:21:01
man.
00:21:04
[Music]
00:21:11
I want
00:21:14
[Music]
00:21:17
you.
00:21:18
[Music]
00:21:31
[Music]
