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[Music]
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up next
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this is a story of my life as a
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defenseless woman in the navy
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a naval officer alleges a cover-up and
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threatens to go public
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very soon i'll have enough evidence send
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to the media
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and then something will be done but
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before that can happen
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she's murdered some say by the man she
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named as her rapist
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and i start suspecting that something is
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miss that this may be all the setup
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can forensic science separate fact
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from fiction the videotape is startling
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it is scary
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she is foretelling her own death
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after a long stressful day working as an
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air traffic controller
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at one of the largest naval jet bases in
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the world
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elise mcdessey went to dinner with her
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husband at an italian restaurant in
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virginia beach virginia
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eddie mcdessey worked in the computer
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business
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he did a lot of contract work and some
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of it was for the us navy
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and that is when he met elise mcdessey
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sometime after 9 00 pm when the couple
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returned home from dinner
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someone was waiting for them
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[Music]
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when eddie regained consciousness his
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hands were bound behind his back
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he saw his wife tied to the bed and the
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man
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raping and stabbing her somehow eddie
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managed to free his hands
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grabbed the handgun he kept in the
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nightstand and shot the assailant
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then he called 911
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but the intruder wasn't dead
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the assailant leaped up a bunch towards
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him with a knife
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and that he shot the individual again
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when paramedics arrived
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elise was barely alive her dress had
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been pulled up and her pantyhose had
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been ripped
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she had multiple stab wounds to the
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chest
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and her throat had been cut ear to ear
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she's trying to talk they absolutely
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believe she was trying to communicate
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and could never get their words out and
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before anybody could
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really give her any significant help she
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died on the way to hospital
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the assailant was identified by his
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driver's license
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as 37 year old quincy brown
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he was laying with his legs pinned
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underneath him
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laying on his back and he had three
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gunshot wounds to the chest
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brown was one of elise's co-workers at
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the oceana naval
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air base quincy brown military man
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worked at the same command where
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elise worked so it wasn't a random crime
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something
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happened to bring co-workers into the
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same room
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and neither one of them left alive
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elise's husband eddie
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was treated for his head injury and
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released
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as incredible as eddie's story seemed
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evidence at the scene
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appeared to support it the entranceway
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floor was littered with takeaway
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containers
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of leftover food from the restaurant
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electrical cords used to tie eddie's
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hands
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were on the bedroom floor underneath the
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intruder's right hand
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was the knife used in elise's murder and
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eddie gave police a videotape that elise
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made
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before her death it contained some
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shocking allegations against her
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superiors in the navy
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allegations that perhaps the navy
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didn't want to be made public
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[Music]
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elise and eddie mcdessey had been
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married for only five years at the time
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of elise's murder
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they lived in an apartment off the
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military base and had no children
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at least enjoyed being in the navy she
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was looking forward to her future as an
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air traffic controller
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tough job and especially for females and
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she would have been good at it if she
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had
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had more time quincy brown
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the man found shot to death in the
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mcdessie's bedroom
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had no history of violence once he had
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been in the navy for
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over 19 years he was married he had a
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child
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he did not have any kind of criminal
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background quincy brown worked with the
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lease at the naval air base
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everybody that we talked to that knew
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quincy brown that didn't go with his
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character at all
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it seemed to be completely conflict of
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his character
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but the facts were undeniable a rape
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test kit on elise mcdessey
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showed signs of sexual intercourse and
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the biological evidence
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matched quincy brown's dna
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a knife covered with elise's blood was
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found
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underneath brown's body
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but what drove brown to murder eddie
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mcdessey thought he knew why
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he said his wife made a videotape before
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her murder
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and he gave it to the authorities sexual
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harassment
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sexual assault and rape this is a story
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of my life
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as a defenseless woman in the navy the
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videotape elise mcdessey made
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is more perplexing to me than anything
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i've run into in 20 years of covering
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crime
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it is startling it is scary
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you see a woman who is speaking from the
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grave
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elise described a tale of horror she
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alleged
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sexual abuse covered up at the highest
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levels of the navy
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three weeks later i have to try my best
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to avoid his sexual embarrassment
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got raped in the women's bathroom
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and eagan threatened me and told me
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you can't prove anything
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keep your mouth shut or else you
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and your husband can't get hurt it's a
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confession of sorts like a dyer it's
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almost a video diary
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of all these terrible things happening
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to her i've made a list of names
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and placed it in a safe deposit box
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in my name only police used
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a court order to get elise's journal
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quincy brown had been named in her
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journal as one of those attackers
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police listed all five men who she
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claimed
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raped her while on duty at this point we
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knew we needed to get
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the naval criminal investigative service
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ncis involved
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because obviously now we had two of
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their
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members dead the ncis questioned the
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four other men
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elise accused in her journal they all
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denied the allegations she had accused
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four
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of the best guys i've ever known the
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best guys i've ever worked with
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family men really decent respectable
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guys
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nancy simpson was elise's friend as well
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as one of her supervisors i knew
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that it was a bunch of crap elise never
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told me
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that she had been sexually harassed at
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work if that had happened
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she certainly would have told me it
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would have never been covered up
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but eddie mcdessey was outraged to him
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the evidence was clear eddie believes
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that quincy brown went there
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to shut her up and to make her stop
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talking about what was going on in the
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base
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eddie's also said that quincy was part
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of a larger conspiracy
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involving higher navy forces to keep her
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quiet
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as proof eddie pointed out that elise
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had recently been
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demoted at the navy base eddie claims
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in retaliation for her sexual harassment
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claims
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eddie says they really slowed down her
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training
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reassigned her because of it he said
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that she was
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the victim not only of the harassers but
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of the same superiors that she'd
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confided in
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then investigators noticed small
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inconsistencies in eddie's story
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according to quincy brown's cell phone
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records he called the mcdessey's
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apartment
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at 9 36 on the night of the murders
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which was after eddie claimed they were
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assaulted at the door of their apartment
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the call lasted two minutes and 10
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seconds out of the ordinary that
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somebody's gonna call and then come over
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and
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and rape someone and kill him the knife
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found under quincy brown's hand
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the one used to kill elise mcdessie
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didn't contain brown's fingerprints and
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the shirt
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didn't have elise's blood once he gets
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none of elise's blood on his body how in
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the world could he have done this and
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not had any of elise's blood on him
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and on the night before her murder elise
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magdesi bought the gun used to kill
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quincy brown in a sporting goods store
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in virginia
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then i start suspecting something is
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miss this may be all
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set up but who wanted both
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elise mcdesi and quincy brown dead
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and why
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in this video journal made shortly
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before her death
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elise magdesi claimed she had been raped
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and sexually assaulted by
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five co-workers at the oceana naval air
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base
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on the tape she claimed she reported
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these incidents to her superiors
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and had been ignored so she threatened
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to go public
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very soon i won't have enough evidence
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descend in the medium and then something
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will be done
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but the navy denied elise mcdessey ever
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filed one
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single claim let alone five
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i was her superior and my immediate
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superior
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was a very tough female tougher than me
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there was no word of this nothing was
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ever reported to any of us and either
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one of us would have
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acted immediately one of the men elise
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named in her journal
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was quincy brown the man found shot to
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death
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in her apartment elise's husband eddie
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claimed brown
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knocked him unconscious and murdered
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elise to stop her from going public
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with these allegations
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investigators weren't so sure
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to find the truth investigators started
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with the only hard evidence they had
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the crime scene we wanted fresh eyes
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somebody to really tell us
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something that we weren't able to see
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virginia beach police contacted ross
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gardner
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a nationally recognized crime scene
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analyst
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this was a very complex crime scene and
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it wasn't until we got a lot of the dna
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information back that we were able to
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make sense of it
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but certain aspects of the crime scene
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analysis certainly supported eddie's
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statement but then gardner looked more
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closely at the crime scene photos and
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noticed
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that they contradicted eddie's story
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the autopsy showed that the first shot
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penetrated quincy's heart
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this creates arterial spurts
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high pressure ejections of blood from
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the body
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and they are easily identified because
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the blood is ejecting out a stream
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it breaks up into larger masses and so
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what we see in an arterial spur are very
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large elliptical shaped stains
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eddy said when he saw his wife being
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attacked
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he grabbed a gun from the nightstand and
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shot quincy brown
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as he rushed towards him
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yet the blood spatter evidence and the
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crime scene photos
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showed that quincy brown was facing in
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the opposite direction there is no
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evidence
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whatsoever that suggests that quincy was
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ever standing
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when that wound was ejecting blood or
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that he was ever facing
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back towards the nightstand avoiding the
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arterial spurts on the carpet tell us
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that quincy was
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in this kneeling position at the time of
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the first shot
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and that his physical position never
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altered other than to lay back
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investigators now had a theory that
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eddie mcdessey was involved
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in an elaborate scheme first
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he convinced his wife to make the
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videotape and written journal
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accusing her five co-workers of rape and
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sexual assault their plan
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was to file a lawsuit against the navy
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eddie mcdessey told several people that
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this sexual harassment
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with his wife in the navy would be
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bigger than tail hook
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referring to another civil suit in which
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someone collected a lot of money from
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from the navy and elise was a willing
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participant in the scheme it was obvious
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that they had a plan
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in action it would appear that there may
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have been some partnership between
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eddie and elise as far as setting this
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thing up
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they planned to prove their case by
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luring one of the men she named in her
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journal
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quincy brown to their apartment to have
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unprotected sex with her and then claim
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it was yet another rape only
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this time they'd have dna evidence to
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prove it
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quincy did not force his way into that
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apartment he came there willingly he had
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sex with
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elise willingly investigators believe
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eddie planned to kill quincy after the
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sexual act was complete
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in order to silence him it's not clear
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whether
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elise was aware of this or not
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elise and eddie bought the gun in
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hampton virginia the night before
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this event occurred i don't know if
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elise had planned that quincy would die
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i don't know but why did eddie
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kill his wife eddie mcdessey had taken
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out a
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half a million dollar life insurance
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policy on his wife this was less than 30
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days prior to the incident
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that's a lot of money to have in a life
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insurance policy
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for a sailor who has no family fortune
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is not earning but a low rate in the
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navy
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not making much money this plus
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an additional 200 thousand dollars from
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her navy life insurance
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was a significant payout the seven
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deadly sins greed is my favorite
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and this man loved his money and he was
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willing to sacrifice innocent people
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for seven hundred thousand dollars
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so he could live the good life and he
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could
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pin her murder on quincy brown he's a
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cold-blooded killer
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ironically elise helped plan organize
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and carry out her own murder
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the only thing that changed is elise was
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double-crossed and she was killed in the
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process as well
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eddie's plan was almost too perfect
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based on the forensic evidence
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prosecutors believe
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that eddie mcdessey was responsible for
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the murders of both his wife felice
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and quincy brown they believe
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this whole thing started as a sexual
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harassment scam
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against the navy elise magdesi made a
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videotape and written journal claiming
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that five men sexually assaulted and
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raped her while on duty at the naval air
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base where she worked
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despite her claims on the tape the navy
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says
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she never filed any charges against
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these men
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facial harassment sexual assault and
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rape
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but eddie and elise needed forensic
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evidence
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so they invited one of the men she named
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in her journal quincy brown
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over to their apartment for a sexual
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threesome
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elise would have claimed that quincy had
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raped her
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and therefore they would have been able
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to
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pursue their sexual harassment claim
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on the night of the crime there was no
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assault outside their apartment
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when they returned home from dinner
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quincy brown
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called their apartment at 9 36
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most likely to confirm their date well
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we still want for tonight he said he'll
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be here in 15 minutes
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okay investigators believe eddie set the
00:16:52
scene
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by tying elise to the bed
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to quincy brown it would appear to be a
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bondage
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fantasy for the evening
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to the police it would look like a
00:17:06
violent assault
00:17:14
when quincy arrived he had a condom in
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his pocket
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perhaps he was encouraged not to use it
00:17:20
although no one really knows
00:17:23
i'm just going to kick back
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after the sexual encounter eddie pulled
00:17:32
his first double cross of the evening
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on quincy brown okay i think you're
00:17:37
finished
00:17:38
break into my house knocked me out you
00:17:40
raped my wife they'd blame
00:17:42
him for breaking into the apartment and
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raping a lease
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[Music]
00:17:51
it's unclear whether elise knew
00:17:54
if quincy would die but she obviously
00:17:58
didn't know eddie would double cross her
00:18:01
too eddie staged the scene to make it
00:18:05
look like a break-in
00:18:06
assault and the rape murder perpetrated
00:18:09
by quincy brown
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and eddie collects 700 000 in life
00:18:15
insurance
00:18:17
and maybe he walks away with a sexual
00:18:18
harassment case also
00:18:20
he almost got away with it too but in
00:18:23
the end
00:18:24
he left too many clues it was obvious
00:18:28
that eddie mcdessey was lying to me
00:18:30
about what happened and how things had
00:18:32
happened in
00:18:32
in that bedroom he told us this happened
00:18:35
this happened this happened
00:18:36
and multiple claims by eddie mcdessey
00:18:40
were refuted by the forensic evidence
00:18:43
but when it came time to arrest eddie
00:18:45
mcdessey he had fled to russia
00:18:48
the problem we're having is that he's
00:18:49
now a russian citizen
00:18:51
and we don't have an extradition treaty
00:18:52
so i can't get him out of russia
00:18:55
for almost a decade eddie mcdessey was
00:18:58
on the run
00:18:59
reporter mike mather decided to track
00:19:01
him down despite everyone telling him
00:19:04
it was useless the state department at
00:19:06
the time told me virginia beach police
00:19:08
told me
00:19:09
the embassy told me you're wasting your
00:19:11
time he's never coming back here
00:19:13
so i said let's go find out send him an
00:19:16
email he agreed to meet with me
00:19:17
blew to moscow apparently mike mather
00:19:21
caught mcdessey
00:19:22
at just the right time he clearly
00:19:25
didn't like living in russia how can i
00:19:28
say this
00:19:29
they took my money they beat me up they
00:19:31
put me in jail
00:19:33
because they thought i was an american
00:19:35
spy and
00:19:37
here i was without
00:19:41
american documents to prove that i'm an
00:19:44
american
00:19:45
mcdessey chose to return to the united
00:19:48
states
00:19:48
and face trial thinking that elise's
00:19:52
video taped allegations would provide
00:19:54
the reasonable doubt he needed for
00:19:56
acquittal
00:19:57
i want to do that because i know i can
00:19:59
prove i'm innocent i know
00:20:02
that what has happened to me
00:20:05
and all this that happened to me
00:20:09
the american people should know about
00:20:11
fourteen years after the double homicide
00:20:14
eddie mcdessey went on trial
00:20:17
the forensic evidence was overwhelming
00:20:21
we the jury find the defendant guilty of
00:20:23
first degree murder of quincy b
00:20:25
brown guilty of first-degree murder of
00:20:27
elise and macdessey
00:20:29
mcdessey was sentenced to two
00:20:31
consecutive life terms ross
00:20:34
explained very very well how the blood
00:20:37
spatter evidence
00:20:38
contradicted what that he said it wasn't
00:20:41
he said
00:20:41
she said it was he said and everyone
00:20:44
else was dead
00:20:46
it's never left me that eddie did that
00:20:48
and i've never questioned that he was
00:20:50
capable of it
00:20:51
not even for a second without the
00:20:54
forensic evidence without ross gardner
00:20:56
and the blood spatter
00:20:59
analysis of the crime scene
00:21:02
to be able to disprove eddie's statement
00:21:04
because all we had was eddie's statement
00:21:06
and the crime scene
00:21:08
and he had a good story
